Asia-Pacific markets started the week mixed ahead of a week of key economic data from around the region.
Monetary policy decisions from Japan and Malaysia, inflation data from South Korea, and gross domestic growth figures from Taiwan and Hong Kong are the regional highlights of the week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.03% as the Bank of Japan starts its two-day monetary policy meeting, while the Topix lost 0.89% in the morning session.
In contrast, South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.35%, and the small-cap Kosdaq saw a larger gain of 1.25%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.55%, as the country saw a faster than expected rise in its September retail sales.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.4% while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 index was up marginally.
On Friday in the U.S., all three major indexes ended the day mixed, with the S&P 500 entering correction territory as renewed selling occurred on Wall Street on fears of a recession.
The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.12%, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.48%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite held 0.38% higher to 12,643.01, thanks to Amazon beating analysts’ expectations for revenue and earnings in the third quarter.
