Shares of Ford and General Motors both fell more than 4 percent after the two US automakers reported disappointing July vehicle sales.
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The Australian dollar, which fell after the RBA cut its key cash rate by 25 basis points to a fresh record low of 1.5%, pared its losses against the greenback by evening local time.
Oil has slumped more than 20% from a peak reached in June, with Saudi Arabia cutting crude prices to Asia and further increases in USA drilling rigs sparking Monday’s 3.7% tumble.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index snapped a six-day climb, slipping 0.8 percent. Futures on the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down 0.2 percent.
USA crude oil headed higher, having briefly dipped below $40 a barrel, although a supply glut still weighed on prices.
The fiscal measures comprise 7.5 trillion yen in spending by the national and regional governments, and 6 trillion yen from the Fiscal Investment and Loan Program, which is not included in the government’s general budget.
Australia s Woodside Petroleum lost 1.4 percent, while Tokyo-listed Inpex and refiner JX Holdings dived 3.7 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. Japan’s Topix index retreated 1.6 percent. Credit Suissefell 5.6 percent and Deutsche Bank 3.2 percent after index provider STOXX said the two banks would be dropped from Europe’s STOXX Europe 50 index from next Monday.
Ultra-low interest rates brought in by major central banks to ward off economic crisis have made it hard for banks to earn money from lending.
Investors were shifting their attention to the US economy and whether it is strong enough for the Fed to raise rates in coming months, which might provide a catalyst to dollar-buying against the yen.
The Australian dollar advanced 0.1% to 75.43 US cents, reversing earlier declines.
Those labor reforms, such as cutting work hours, will be the focus of the economic growth strategy.
“While the method of financing is not clear yet, such cooperation between government and central bank is likely to be more frequent in Japan, and potentially elsewhere in the world”, said Aberdeen Asset Management’s Mr Lee. “The BOJ hit its limit”, he wrote in a report on the company’s website last week.
Against the yen, the dollar was down 1.44 percent to 100.91 yen, after touching a three-week low.
The government hopes that the planned measures will increase gross domestic product by about 1.3 percent in the near term.
United States crude tumbled below $40 per barrel on Monday for the first time since April, on heightened worries of a supply glut despite peak summer gasoline demand.
While American crude and gasoline inventories are forecast to have declined last week, they’ll likely remain around the highest seasonal level in at least two decades.
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Spot gold prices were up 0.80 percent to $1,363.80 an ounce.
