Asia-Pacific markets are trading mixed on Monday, ahead of a busy week of key economic releases in the region.
Most major markets were down except Japanese which was higher: the Nikkei 225 up by 0.37% and the Topix 0.35% higher.
Investors will be closely watching the Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting later this week, the first to be led by new BOJ chief Kazuo Ueda.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.07%, while South Korea’s Kospi fell more than 0.6% and the Kosdaq was down 1.5%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.11% in early trade paring earlier gains, while the Hang Seng Tech climbed 0.2%. Mainland Chinese markets were also lower, with the Shenzhen Component shedding 0.6 and the Shanghai Composite down 0.43%.
Some Southeast Asian markets are closed today for a holiday, including Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Singapore will release its inflation figures for March on Monday.
Last week, all three major U.S. indices posted gains on Friday, but ended the week lower overall. On a weekly basis, the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw the biggest decline, falling 0.42%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.23% to snap a four-week win streak, and the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%.
— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report