Asian shares closed in negative territory on Monday, ahead of a two-day U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that begins on Wednesday, as tech stocks took a tumble.
The Nikkei 225 backtracked 104.68 points, or 0.5%, to 19,908.58
The Hang Seng Index retreated 322.25 points, or 1.2%, to 25,708.04
Tech stocks in Japan and South Korea were under pressure after major tech names in the U.S. fell almost 3% in the last trading session.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, which counts Apple among its customers, was down by 2.1%. Samsung Electronics shed 1.6%.
Other companies with less obvious links to U.S. tech names also felt the heat. South Korean internet companies Naver and Kakao were down 6.8% and 4.4%, respectively. In Japan, Nintendo was down 2.3% at 34,020 yen.
Media reports also said that Toshiba shares bucked the trend to climb on news that Western Digital would be increasing its bid for Toshiba's memory chip unit to $18 billion U.S. or more. Shares of Toshiba surged 9.4% on the news to close at 329.1 yen each.
The U.S. dollar/yen pairing trended lower to trade at 110.14 yen, compared with levels around the 110.4 handle seen in the last session.
Media reports also said Japan April core machinery orders, which tend to be volatile, fell 3.1% on month — greater than the 1.3% decline projected
Central banks were also in focus, with the Federal Reserve expected to release its decision on interest rates later this week. The Bank of England and Bank of Japan policy meetings later in the week were also likely to be closely watched.
In other markets
The CSI 300 slipped 1.78 points, or 0.1%, to 3,574.39
In Taiwan, the Taiex index lost 89.69 points, or 0.9%, to 10,109.96
In Korea, the Kospi index dropped 23.82 points, or 1%, to 2,357.87
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index faded 5.85 points, or 0.2%, to 3,248.34
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 sank 3.35 points, or 0.1%, to 7,432.74
Australian markets were shuttered for holiday
