Asian markets were weaker on Tuesday, as investors stayed cautious following the overnight pullback on Wall Street and ahead of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.91 percent, or 196.52 points, tracking the declines seen stateside overnight. Tuesday’s move lower also extended the Nikkei’s decline in the last session amid an ongoing political scandal that’s hurting public support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Most sectors recorded declines, although trading houses, banks and automakers clung to gains. The broader Topix index edged lower by 0.78 percent.
Stocks elsewhere in the region saw slimmer losses, with Seoul’s benchmark Kospi off by 0.21 percent.
Heavyweight tech names were softer following the slump in tech names stateside overnight, with Samsung Electronics lower by 0.55 percent, although that was partially offset by a strong showing among manufacturing names.
Steelmakers traded mixed following news from Yonhap News Agency that South Korea is requesting for an exemption from recently announced U.S. steel tariffs.
The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.39 percent and on the mainland, the Shanghai composite shed 0.12 percent while the Shenzhen composite edged down by 0.39 percent.
Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped by 0.57 percent. All sectors but gold producers and the heavily weighted financials sector were in the red, with losses led by materials stocks.
Stocks stateside closed lower on Monday, with losses led by the Nasdaq composite’s 1.84 percent fall.
The index recorded its worst day since Feb. 8 as Facebook sank 6.8 percent on the back of a scandal involving data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge Analytica accessed the data of 50 million Facebook users without their permission, reports said.
Fed meeting ahead
Ahead, markets are focused on a two-day Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting that begins on Tuesday U.S. time. The Federal Reserve is expected to hike interest rates for the first time in 2018 at the end of that meeting.
The probability of a 25 basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday stood at 94.4 percent, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool on Tuesday Asia time.
Despite that, the dollar was mostly steady, with the dollar index standing at 89.879 by 9:39 a.m. HK/SIN, near its overnight low of 89.872 and below levels around the 90 handle seen at the end of last week.
That came as sterling firmed after the U.K. and the European Union reached an agreement on the transition period before the former exits the bloc.
Meanwhile, the euro strengthened following news from Reuters that the European Central Bank was steadily focusing more on discussion on future interest rates.
Both currencies extended overnight gains, with the common currency trading at $1.2343 and the pound at $1.4041.
In individual stocks, Singapore-listed commodities trader Noble Group fell 15.32 percent. The move lower extended losses seen in the last session after the company said it would not be able to pay $379 million in debt notes due in 2018, Reuters reported.
