Asia markets were lower on Monday, with sentiment this week likely to be dominated by the first U.S. presidential debate, as well as an upcoming informal meeting of producers from the Organization of Petroleum Countries (OPEC).
The Nikkei 225 Index lost 209.46 points, or 1.3%, to 16,544.56, after a speech from Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda sent the yen higher.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 358.56 points, or 1.6%, to 23,317.92
Speaking to business leaders in Osaka, Kuroda said the central bank was prepared to use every policy tool available to achieve its 2% inflation target.
The comments from Kuroda sent the Japanese yen slightly higher against the U.S. dollar, trading at 100.85 as of late afternoon local time, compared with levels as high as 101.10 earlier in the session.
Last week, the yen fell beyond the 102.40 handle, after the BOJ overhauled its monetary policy, but stopped short of cutting short-term interest rates deeper into negative territory.
Major Japanese exporters ended mostly lower, with Toyota shares down 0.6%, Nissan off 1.3% and Honda dropping 2.1%. A stronger yen is usually a negative for exporters as it reduces their overseas profits when converted into the local currency.
Japanese banking stocks also sold off, likely on the back of Kuroda's confirmation that further interest rate cuts were still on the table; negative interest rates can hurt banks' profit margins.
Shares of Mitsubishi UFJ fell 2.1%, SMFG was down 1.4% and Mizuho Financial dropped 1.3%
Japanese camera maker Nikon beat the broader benchmark to close up 1.9%, after Citigroup upgraded the stock to a buy from neutral citing improving technology, change in strategic direction and expectations that the company could avoid a big drop in earnings in fiscal 2018
Elsewhere, in company news, Samsung shares reversed early gains of nearly 0.3% to trade lower by 0.2%, following reports that the company was delaying the start of new Galaxy Note 7 handset sales in South Korea until October 1.
Media outlets reported the company saying the move was needed for speedy completion of the ongoing recall in the country of existing Note 7 smart phones, with only about 200,000 affected customers having turned in their devices.
Australian markets made their heads barely above water, with the heavily-weighted financial sector lower by 0.1%. The energy sector finished down 0.1%, while the materials sector gained 0.3%
Major banking stocks in the country mostly edged higher, with ANZ up 0.04%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia flat, Westpac shares up 0.1% and the National Australia Bank adding 0.1%.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7616 U.S., retreating from levels near $0.7680 in the previous week.
OPEC producers were set to meet informally this week at the sidelines of an energy conference in Algeria to discuss a possible production freeze deal. Prices received a boost on Monday, following a media report that cited the Algerian energy minister saying all options were possible for an output cut or freeze at the meeting.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dropped 55.39 points, or 1.7%, to 3,220.28
The Straits Times Index in Singapore gave back 7.01 points, or 0.3%, to 2,849.94
The Kospi index in Korea subtracted 6.96 points, or 0.3%, to 2,047.11
In Taiwan, the Taiex index moved lower 90.1 points, or 1%, to 9,194.52
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 shed 31.87 points, or 0.4%, to 7,264.87
In Australia, the ASX 200 squeaked 0.13 points higher to 5,431.42
