Japanese stocks led Asia lower on Tuesday, as the yen strengthened before the end of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting, while regional technology stocks fell.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost another 201.97 points, or 1.4%, to 14,606.88.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong regained 219.82 points, or 1%, to 22,596.97
Asia’s technology names faced another session of selling. In Japan, Sony Corp. lost 2.1% and Sharp Corp. dropped by 2.5%, while South Korean online gaming company Naver Corp. lost 1.5% in Seoul.
Regional technology companies were also reacting to their own negative news, with Samsung Electronics Co. falling 1% in Seoul after the electronics giant forecast a decline in its operating profit for the second consecutive quarter.
The announcement comes just days ahead of the company’s rollout of its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5.
In Japan, the focus was on the outcome of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting later in the later, with investors looking ahead to see whether the central bank’s governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, will hint at additional easing pressures when he speaks to the media later in the day.
The yen strengthened against the dollar, with the U.S. dollar falling back below the ¥103 mark. The yen was last at ¥102.87 to the dollar compared with ¥103.09 late Monday in New York.
In other markets;
The Shanghai CSI 300 returned from a long weekend to gain 51.84 points, or 2.4%, to 2,237.32
Taiwan’s Taiex Index recovered 11.81 points, or 0.1%, to 8.888.25
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 3.33 points, or 0.2%, to 3,204.09
Korea’s Kospi Index inched up 1.61 points, or 0.1%, to 1,989.70
The New Zealand Exchange 50 index slipped 44.29 points, or 0.9%, to 5,031.56
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 3.10 points, or 0.1%, to 5,410.67
