Asia markets traded mixed on Monday, with traders focused on the wobbling U.S. dollar and the upcoming two-day policy meeting from the Federal Reserve later in the week.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 124.08 points, or 0.6%, to 19,975.67
Elsewhere, the Japanese yen traded at 110.77 to the U.S. dollar, strengthening from an earlier low of 111.19, and the Australian dollar fetched $0.7953 U.S.
The Hang Seng Index hiked 140.74 points, or 0.5%, to 26,846.83
Australia markets dwindled with most sectors finishing lower.
The heavily-weighted financials sub-index closed down 0.8% as major banking stocks remained under pressure throughout the trading day.
Shares of ANZ closed down 0.7%, Commonwealth Bank fell 0.5%, Westpac was lower by 0.8% and the National Australia Bank slid 1%
Major energy names in Australia closed mostly lower, with Santos shares down 2.15 percent, Oil Search off by 1.96 percent and Woodside Petroleum losing 3.02 percent.
Last week, Australian brokerage firm Morgans downgraded Santos' stock to Reduce from a previous Hold rating.
Ahead of the Fed's meeting, most analysts don't expect the U.S. central bank to move on interest rates, but they said the market will look for clues on when the Fed will commence the process of balance sheet shrinkage.
Increasing political uncertainty from the White House contributed to another bout of dollar weakness, analysts said Monday, following on a rough close last week for the greenback.
In other markets
The CSI 300 moved higher 14.87 points, or 0.4%, to 3,743.47
In Taiwan, the Taiex index regained 24.58 points, or 0.2%, to 10,461.28
In Korea, the Kospi index nicked higher 1.47 points, or 0.1%, to 2,451.53
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index sifted off 3.32 points, or 0.1%, to 3,310.80
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 11.43 points, or 0.2%, to 7,682.29
In Australia, the ASX 200 slid 34.77 points, or 0.6%, to 5,688.07
