During late Asian trade, Australia’s ASX/200 Index ended 0.7% lower, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged down 0.2% in choppy trade, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index remained closed for holiday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei declined by as much as 2% earlier in the session as market players remained disappointed after the Bank of Japan refrained from implementing measures to ease volatility in the government bond market following its latest policy setting meeting.
The yen strengthened sharply against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, withUSD/JPY falling by as much as 3% to hit a session low of 95.59, compared to the previous day’s high of 99.27.
Exporters declined after the yen strengthened, with Toyota and Honda slumping 1% and 1.65% respectively, while Sony and Sharp retreated 1.2% and 0.2% apiece.
Japanese megabanks were lower, with shares in the nation’s largest lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group falling 1.8%, while Mizuno Financial Group and Nomura Holdings lost 1% and 1.4% respectively.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the benchmark ASX/200 Index ended close to a five-month low as a weakened Australian dollar led to further selling in high dividend-yielding stocks such as banks.
A weakening Australian dollar makes the relatively high dividends paid by local firms less attractive to foreign investors.
The big four banks all fell, with Westpac Banking Group losing the most, down 1.3%, while ANZ Banking Group and National Australia Bank each shed 1.2%.
Miners retreated, tracking metal prices lower. Fortescue Metals Group saw shares drop 2.65%, while Newcrest Mining fell 0.8%.
Looking ahead, European stock market futures pointed to a mildly lower open.
The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.4% at the open, France’s CAC 40 futures shed 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 futures dipped 0.6%, while Germany's DAX futures pointed to a loss of 0.5% at the open.
The euro zone was to release official data on industrial production later in the day.
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