Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Tuesday as investors watched for market reaction to U.S. President Joe Biden picking Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair.
Markets in Japan were shuttered for holiday. The Japanese yen was at 96.553, higher than the levels below 95.4 seen last week.
The Japanese yen traded at 115 per dollar, following a recent sharp weakening from below 114.5 against the greenback.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng declined 299.76 points, or 1.2%, to 24,651.58.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent fell 2.2% while Alibaba slipped 2.6% and Meituan plunged 2.5%.
Korea dipped with shares of biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion plunging 6%.
Powell has guided the U.S. central bank and the country’s economy through the pandemic recession, unleashing unprecedented monetary stimulus to keep financial markets afloat. His renomination now heads to the Senate for confirmation.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7214, still off levels above $0.735 seen last week.
In other markets
In China, the CSI 300 inched up 0.95 points to 4,913.35
In Taiwan, the Taiex retreated 14.77 points, or 0.1%, to 17,803.54
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index dipped 9.55 points, or 0.3%, to 3,227.53
In Korea, the Kospi index deleted 15.92 points, or 0.5%, to 2,997.33
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 regained 80.89 points, or 0.6%, to 12,688.53
In Australia, the ASX 200 recovered 57.49 points, or 0.8%, at 7,410.57
