Data released before the open showed Japan’s exports tumbled 10.1% in April from a year earlier, in line with expectations but down for a seventh consecutive month, reflecting sluggish demand from China and emerging markets.
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May 24 Japanese stocks fell on Tuesday as uncertainty on whether Tokyo would intervene to weaken the yen over US objections sapped confidence, while worries over fiscal policy and a pending decision on a sale tax hike sent turnover to its lowest level this year.
The dollar was set for its biggest daily percentage decline against the yen in more than three weeks.
The Nikkei average fell 81.75 points or 0.49 percent to 16,654.60 and the broader Topix index finished 0.35 percent lower at 1,338.68.
Spot gold edged up 0.2% to $1,254.60/oz, getting a reprieve from the weaker dollar after declining for three days in a row and notching almost three-week lows.
In Australia, the benchmark ASX/200 dropped 0.8% at 5,308.40 points.
Oil prices retreated during Asian hours, with global benchmark Brent down 0.33% at $48.56 a barrel. Ten Network Holdings ended flat after signing a five-year affiliation agreement with Bruce Gordon’s WIN Network.
Sydney shed 0.07 percent, but Hong Kong was up 0.3 percent, Shanghai advanced 0.5 percent by midday and Seoul ticked up 0.3 percent.
New Zealand shares closed marginally lower after ending near a record high last week.
Though a thoroughly disappointing set of figures, and a continuation of the recent trend, the data likely felt the impact of a series of earthquakes which shook the southern Japanese island of Kyushu in April, a major manufacturing hub in Japan.
But Taipei-listed Apple suppliers got a boost Monday after a report the smartphone maker has placed a bullish order for its iPhone 7 series, telling suppliers to kickstart production.
Elsewhere, India’s Sensex was up 0.2 percent, Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite index was rising half a percent, Malaysia’s KLSE Composite was up 0.1 percent and the Taiwan Weighted rallied 2.6 percent while Singapore’s Straits Times index was down 0.1 percent.
Year-to-date, the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) fell 4.5%, the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ) dropped 15%. Economists had expected the rate to fall to 3.90 percent.
Imports fell 23.3 percent in the year to April, versus a 19.0 percent annual decline expected by economists.
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USA stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow snapping a three-day losing streak, as fears of an interest-rate hike ebbed, Applied Materials posted better-than-expected quarterly results and a report showed existing home sales rose for the second consecutive month in April. It rose 0.8 percent last week, climbing for a third week.
