Asian equities closed mostly lower on Monday, with investors remaining focused on the mid-week decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Nikkei 225 index lurched lower 347.06 points, or 1.8%, to 18,883.42. This, despite a better-than-expected quarterly Tankan Survey, a broad measure of business sentiment, released by the Bank of Japan before the market open.
The headline index for big manufacturers' sentiment was at plus 12 points in December, unchanged from the previous quarter. For large non-manufacturers, sentiment was up two points to plus 25 for the same period.
The Hang Seng tumbled 154.2 points, or 0.7%, to 21,309.85
Exporter stocks, such as Toyota, Honda and Sony, were all down, falling as much as 3%. Heavyweights such as Fast Retailing were down 3.1%, and Fanuc was off 2.8%.
In Korea, blue-chip stocks fell, with Samsung Electronics closing down 1.8%, steel manufacturer Posco falling 3.2%, and KB Financial Group shedding 1%
Shares in Hyundai Motor added 1.4%, and Kia Motors finished up 2.7%, after local media Yonhap reported the two firms are aiming for higher auto sales in 2016.
Oil took it on the chin in Asia plays, especially in Australia, where shares of Santos closed down 4.8%, Oil Search fell 5.5%, and Woodside Petroleum shed 2.3% In Hong Kong, Cnooc shed 1.3% and Sinopec fell 1.6%
Japan's Inpex lost 2.9% and Japan Petroleum was down 1.7%
In Australian, shares in ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and NAB, Australia's four largest banks, were down as much as 2.6%.
Two of the country's largest miners dipped, Rio Tinto sinking 2%, and BHP Billiton fell 3.5%.
CHINA
The Chinese market bucked the trend and closed up, boosted by growth of shares of brokerages and banks.
The CSI 300 in Shanghai hiked 103.26 points, or 2.9%, to 3,711.32
Investors may have gained some confidence after the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, a unit of the People's Bank of China, said the yuan can remain stable in medium to long term.
Financial shares traded in positive territory in the afternoon, offsetting declines in other sectors, with brokerages up as much as 10%, while banking stocks tacked on up to 3.3%.
Reports emerged on Sunday that Fosun Group's missing chairman, Guo Guangchang, was released from police custody. The company said he was in Shanghai to assist with an investigation.
Companies in which Fosun Group owns majority shares resumed trading on Monday with losses. Shares of Fosun International, which trades on the Hong Kong stock exchange, were down 9.2%, while Fosun Pharmaceutical was down 3.8% on the Shanghai exchange and down 10% in Hong Kong trade.
The yuan traded nearly flat at 6.4586 against the dollar.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index faded 19.59 points, or 0.7%, to 2,815.04
The Kospi index in Korea settled 20.8 points, or 1.1%, to 1,927.82
Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 75.73 points, or 0.9%, to 8,040.16
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 34.69 points, or 0.6%, to 6,035.25
The ASX 200 faltered 100.85 points, or 2%, to 4,928.60
