Most Asian markets were lower Tuesday ahead of key U.S. data later this week, amid continued concern over whether the U.S. Federal Reserve might hike interest rates at its April meeting.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo deducted 30.84 points, or 0.2%, to 17,103.53
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index returned from a long weekend to gain 20.69 points, or 0.1%, to 20.366.30
In Japan, data showed household spending rose 1.2% on-year in February. The country's seasonally adjusted jobless rate for February came in at 3.3% slightly above the 3.2% economists had forecast.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar/yen pair was at 113.67. Major Japanese exporters closed mixed, with Toyota off 1.1%, Nissan down 1.6% and Honda lower by 0.2%. Shares of Sony closed up 0.7%
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7530 against the greenback, after the stock market had closed.
Australian financials sub-index dropped 2%, with ANZ closing down 3.6%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 2.4%, Westpac off by 3.1% and NAB down 2.6%
That followed ANZ's warning last week that it would see higher bad debt charges than previously expected on its exposure to the resources sector, which spurred concerns that other banks faced similar issues. Westpac has also indicated its bad debts may rise.
Energy plays were lower, with Santos erasing early gains to close flat, Oil Search down 0.7% and Woodside Petroleum lower by 1.1%
Japan's Inpex fell 2%,
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 slipped 34.32 points, or 1.1%, to 3,135.41
Among energy concerns, Chinese mainland shares of Sinopec were off 0.2%
In other markets;
In Korea, the Kospi index moved higher 12.37 points, or 0.6%, to 1,994.91
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index dropped 73.10 points, or 0.8%, to 8,617.35
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index slid 11.21 points, or 0.6%, to 2,830.29
In Australia, the ASX 200 backtracked 79.69 points, or 1.6%, after a long weekend, to 5,004.52
New Zealand’s NZX 50 also came back to work, but favourably, 13.79 points, or 0.2%, to 6,676.34
