Markets in Asia traded narrowly mixed on Tuesday, following the lower close on Wall Street and as markets digested the impact of diplomatic tensions between Qatar and other Middle Eastern nations.
The Nikkei 225 thundered lower 190.92 points, or 1%, to 19,979.90
The Hang Seng Index recovered 134.15 points, or 0.5%, to 25,997.14
The U.S. dollar was weaker against then yen, with the dollar/yen pairing falling to trade at 109.69 compared to levels around the 110 handle seen last week.
Australian markets lost ground, driven by broad declines in the utilities, financials and energy sub-indexes. Major banking and resource stocks traded in the red.
The subdued performance in the markets overnight could be due to investors awaiting bigger news due later this week, experts said.
Australia's balance of payments reflected a A$3.1-billion ($2.31-billion U.S.) current account deficit, wider than expected. The Reserve Bank of Australia held the cash rate unchanged at a record low 1.5%, as expected.
The Australian dollar gained slightly after the RBA's decision to keep cash rates unchanged. Aussie/dollar traded as high as $0.7496 after the decision was announced — compared to a high of $0.7482 seen ahead of the decision. The Aussie traded at $0.7477 late afternoon.
First quarter Gross Domestic Product due later this week is likely to influence the direction of the Aussie dollar more than the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision
Markets also continued to digest the news that Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East had severed diplomatic ties with Qatar. Qatar is the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter.
Despite Qatar's position, commentators said that there was "little risk" to pricing and trade flows in the LNG markets, due to the low risk of disruption to transit routes.
CHINA
The CSI 300 regained 24.13 points, or 0.7%, to 3,492.88
Shares of China Evergrande Group were up 5% after the company said it would redeem perpetual bonds ahead of time. Moody's had earlier revised the company's ratings outlook from negative to stable.
In other markets
Markets in Korea were shuttered for holiday
In Taiwan, the Taiex index withered 20.66 points, or 0.2%, to 10,206.18
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index subtracted 2.56 points, or 0.1%, to 3,235.75
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 returned from a long weekend to drop 5.01 points, or 0.1%, to 7,497.97
In Australia, the ASX 200 slid 87.39 points, or 1.5%, to 5,667.47
