Asian stocks closed lower on Monday, with investors wary as the Bank of Japan and other central banks hold policy meetings this week.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 sank 167.91 points, or 0.7%, to 22,544.84, with falls in utilities, energy and pharmaceuticals leading the losses for the day.
Against the yen, the U.S. dollar was mostly steady at 111.08
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng handed back 71.15 points, or 0.3%, to 28,733.13.
The information technology dropped 2.2%, dragging on the index as heavyweight Tencent fell 2.4% ahead of the session's close. The consumer goods sector lost 1.8% an hour before the market close, contributing to the benchmark's overall declines.
In Korea, losses in large cap technology names offset gains seen in automakers and manufacturing sector plays, with index bellwether Samsung Electronics down 0.9% before the release of earnings due on Tuesday.
In Australia, losses were led by the drop in the health care sub-index, while heavily weighted "Big Four" banks all finished lower.
In individual movers, Hotel Shilla was up 1.6% after rising more than 6% earlier in the session. The company reported a 303% increase in operating income after the market close on Friday.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dropped 6.15 points, or 0.2%, to 3,515.05
in China, shares of Changsheng Biotechnology dropped 5% amid public outcry over a recent vaccine scandal. The pharmaceuticals company reportedly fabricated manufacturing and test records Other Chinese pharmaceuticals names also saw declines, with the CSI 300 health care index falling almost 3% by the end of the session.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index lost 17.83 points, or 0.5%, to 3,307.15
In Taiwan, the Taiex index faded 42.24 points, or 0.4%, to 11,033.54
In Korea, the Kospi index deleted 1.48 points, or 0.1%, to 2,293.51
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 74.78 points, or 0.8%, to 8,921.38
In Australia, the ASX 200 let go of 21.84 points, or 0.4%, to 6,278.39
