SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia slipped on Monday morning as investors look ahead to this week’s major Chinese economic data releases as well as a closely watched interest rate decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan dropped 2.4% as shares of conglomerate SoftBank Group fell 4.58%. The Topix index shed 1.8%.
South Korea’s Kospi slipped 2%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.53% lower.
Markets in Australia are closed on Monday for a holiday.
Later this week, a slew of Chinese economic data including industrial production and retail sales for May will be out on Wednesday.
The U.S. Fed is also expected to announce its interest rate decision later this week. That comes after Friday’s hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data release.
Oil drops nearly 2%
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 1.9% to $119.69 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 1.96% to $118.31 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 104.476 after recently crossing the 104 level.
The Japanese yen traded at 134.67 per dollar, having weakened from levels below 132 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7015 after dropping from above $0.72 last week.
Source: CNBC