Asia report: Most markets lower ahead of central bank meetings

Most markets in Asia finished lower on Monday, as investors looked towards a number of central bank meetings coming up this week.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.74% at 22,544.84, as the yen weakened 0.02% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 111.07.

Energy, pharmaceuticals and utilities were the biggest losers in Tokyo, with nearly two-thirds of the subindices on the broader Topix leading that index down 0.43%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.12% to 2,870.06, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite was off 1.39% at 1,576.79.

South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.06% to 2,293.51, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slid 0.25% to 28,733.13.

Losses were seen among the blue-chip technology stocks in Seoul, with Samsung Electronics falling 0.85% a day before its earnings report, offsetting gains among carmakers and manufacturing stocks.

The negative session in Asia followed the lead of Wall Street on Friday, which fell as investors digested a number of negative earnings reports, despite a decent showing from the US GDP data for the second quarter.

Traders in the region were also looking ahead to decisions from the Bank of Japan, which began its meeting on Monday, as well as the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England later in the week.

“Our base case scenario is for the BoJ to make no policy change,” noted Commonwealth Bank of Australia senior currency strategist Elias Haddad.

“But there is increasing speculation the BOJ may tweak its yield curve control settings in part because of lower bank profitability and muted inflation in Japan.”

Oil prices were higher, with Brent crude last up 0.8% at $74.89 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate adding 2.05% to $70.13.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.35% to 6,278.40, led lower by the ‘big four’ banks on the financials subindex, and a decent fall in the healthcare sector.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was down 0.8% at 8,921.38, led lower by outdoor gear brand Kathmandu, which was off 3.4%.

The down under dollars were mixed, with the Aussie last 0.04% weaker against the greenback at AUD 1.3516, while the Kiwi strengthened 0.26% to NZD 1.4691.