Asian shares were mostly lower on Monday following the close of another winning week for US stocks on Friday, despite a slowdown in Nvidia’s stock from its remarkable surge.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose by 0.7% to 38,869.94, making it the only major benchmark in Asia to record gains.
The yen weakened to 159.93 per dollar during morning trading.
Minutes from the Japanese central bank’s latest policy meeting, released on Monday, put additional pressure on the yen. The minutes indicated that any changes to the policy interest rate should be considered only after economic indicators confirm a clear rebound in the CPI inflation rate and a rise in medium-to-long-term inflation expectations.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell by 1.2% to 17,815.42, while the Shanghai Composite decreased by 1% to 2,969.59.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped by 0.7% to 7,740.80, and South Korea’s Kospi declined by 0.7% to 2,763.95.
On Friday, the S&P 500 slipped by 0.2% to 5,464.62, staying close to its all-time high set on Tuesday and marking its eighth winning week in the last nine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up by less than 0.1% to 39,150.33, while the Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.2% to 17,689.36.
