Asian markets were negative on Tuesday following the sluggishness in global equities amid risk-off sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 Index moved downward 65.93 points to 18,910.78, on the back of continued yen strength.
The Japanese yen, a safe-haven play due to its large current account surplus, has appreciated strongly against major currencies. The yen was fetching 111.68 per U.S. dollar in early Asian morning, falling below the 112 handle yesterday. Against the euro, the yen traded at 119.75, versus levels above 121 seen last week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index docked 16.69 points, or 0.1%, to 23,331.57
Toyota Motor shares were down 2.3%, their lowest since November last year, after the automaker raise its operating profit forecast short of the market expectation
South Korea's SK Hynix was down 0.7%, after it submitted an initial bid to acquire a stake in Toshiba's memory chip business
After the news, Toshiba shares was off 0.3%, The Japanese conglomerate is making its core memory chip business a separate company and seeking outside investment, as it faces a multi-billion dollar write-down for its U.S. nuclear construction business.
Australian markets found gains limited, weighed by their financials component which was down 0.6%, and its energy component, which fell 0.2%. The benchmark index's gold sub-index outperformed, up 3.9% as gold prices surge.
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates unchanged at a record low 1.5% on Tuesday, with the accompanying statement suggesting that the central bank may be on hold for some time.
The Australian dollar climbed after the announcement to trade at $0.7671 U.S.
Over in New Zealand, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler announced that he would not be seeking a second term when his current five-year term ends on Sept. 26.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dropped 7.53 points, or 0.2%, to 3,365.68
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index gathered 16.55 points, or 0.2%, to 9,554.56
In Korea, the Kospi index doffed 2.45 points, or 0.1%, to 2,075.21
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index pointed higher 14.73 points, or 0.5%, to 3,071.64
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 returned from holiday to fall 27.33 points, or 0.4%, to 7,067.05
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 recovered 6.35 points, or 0.1%, to 5,621.92
