Asia markets traded mixed on Monday, while U.S. futures rose, as investors digested news that the U.S. Senate narrowly passed an important tax bill in the early hours of Saturday.
The Nikkei 225 index lost 111.87 points, or 0.5%, to 22,707.16
The Hang Seng Index gained 64.04 points, or 0.2%, to 29,138.28
Among other currency majors, the Japanese yen fetched 112.87 to the U.S. dollar, weakening from an earlier low of 112.39. Despite the relative weakness in the yen, some of the major exporters remained under pressure: Toyota closed down 0.6%. Sony reversed early losses to finish up 1.4% and Mitsubishi Electric was down 0.8%. Nissan shares rose 0.2%
In company news, Hong Kong-listed shares of Wanda Hotel Development rose 11.2% in afternoon trade.
In a regulatory filing, the company said 65% of all of its issued shares will be transferred to a new holding company — Wanda Investment Holding — that will be wholly-owned by billionaire founder Wang Jianlin. The shares will be transferred at HK$1.20 ($0.15 U.S.) a share as part of the company's proposed reorganization.
Australian markets hesitated, as the heavily-weighted financial subindex fell 0.6% The country's so-called Big Four banks closed lower.
Shares of ANZ were down 1% Commonwealth Bank declined 0.3%, Westpac fell by 1.2% and the National Australia Bank was lower by 0.5%.
The Australian dollar weakened against the greenback to trade at $0.7593 from a previous high of $0.7613
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 regained 20.72 points, or 0.5%, to 4,018.86
In Korea, the Kospi index recovered 26.26 points, or 1.1%, to 2,501.67
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index gained 50.74 points, or 0.5%, to 10,651.11
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index settled 11.07 points, or 0.3%, to 3,438.47
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 3.96 points, or 0.1%, to 8,184.87
In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 4.17 points, or 0.1%, to 5,985.59
