Asia markets largely fall as Japan hovers near 33-year highs

Asia-Pacific markets largely fell on Monday, with Japan’s markets still hovering near 33-year highs. The Nikkei 225 has posted weekly gains for the last 10 weeks, but slipped 0.3% on Monday along with the Topix, which was trading close to the flatline. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.77%, while the Kosdaq was down 0.21%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index opened 0.48% lower, along with mainland Chinese stocks. The Shanghai Composite was down marginally and the Shenzhen Component dropped 0.18%. Australia bucked the wider sell off in the region, with the S&P/ASX 200 higher by 0.31% and powered by utilities and consumer services stocks. Asian investors will be looking ahead to China’s loan prime rate decision on Tuesday, after the world’s second largest economy cut some of its key lending rates last week. On the diplomatic front, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Beijing on a diplomatic mission to repair strained ties between the U.S. and China. U.S. markets will be closed Monday for the Juneteenth holiday. On Friday, all three major indexes ended the day lower after a strong showing earlier in the week. The U.S. Federal Reserve notably held rates after last week’s FOMC meeting, breaking a streak of 10 straight increases. The S&P 500 ticked down 0.37% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.68%, but both indexes still recorded their best week since March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.32%, but notched its third positive week in a row.