Asian Shares Mostly Lower Ahead Of Busy Week Of Earnings

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Monday as focus shifted to central bank meetings and U.S. corporate earnings. Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms all are slated to report their earnings this week.

Gold prices were subdued for a second consecutive session and the dollar held steady as investors braced for the Fed, BoE and ECB policy meetings due over the next two weeks.

Oil prices fell over 1 percent to extend last week's steep loses as fears of a global economic downturn exacerbated demand concerns.

Chinese shares fell notably on lingering concerns over economic recovery this year. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.78 percent to 3,275.41.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 0.58 percent lower at 19,959.94 as investors reacted to hawkish signals from Federal Reserve officials to curb inflation.

Japanese shares ended slightly higher as investors looked ahead to this week's Bank of Japan policy meeting - the first under new Governor Kazuo Ueda.

The central bank is widely expected to maintain its ultra-dovish stance but could guide the market by indicating tightening later in the year to control sticky inflation.

The Nikkei average ended 0.10 percent higher at 28,593.52, rimming early gains. The broader Topix index closed 0.11 percent higher at 2,037.34.

Airline stocks surged, with ANA Holdings rallying 3.7 percent and Japan Airlines adding 2 percent. Electric motor maker Nidec rose 1.1 percent before announcing its first quarterly operating loss in a decade.

Shippers and chip-related stocks lost ground, with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ending down nearly 4 percent, Advantest losing 2.3 percent and Tokyo Electron falling 1.9 percent.

Seoul stocks declined for a third day ahead of Q1 GDP data due Tuesday, which is expected to show a slowdown in growth amid continued headwinds from weak exports. The Kospi average fell 0.82 percent to 2,523.50, dragged down by large-cap tech stocks. Samsung Electronics shed 0.8 percent and SK Hynix lost 2.1 percent on reports that the U.S. has asked South Korea to urge its chipmakers not to boost sales to China if Beijing bans Micron Technology from selling chips.

Australian markets finished marginally lower ahead of first-quarter inflation data due later this week and a Reserve Bank meeting next week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.11 percent to 7,322, dragged down by miners. The broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.14 percent lower at 7,512.20.

Fortescue Metals Group tumbled 3.4 percent after posting iron ore shipments in the March quarter that were little changed from the prior year period. Heavyweight BHP gave up 1.9 percent and Rio Tinto declined 3.3 percent.

Diversified miner South32 slumped 7.4 percent after downgrading full-year output guidance at some operations.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.83 percent to finish at 12,026.39.

U.S. stocks ended little changed on Friday, with the Dow snapping a four-week winning run amid mixed earnings results and recession fears.

The major U.S. averages all finished marginally higher as new data indicated a faster rise in business activity at U.S.-based firms in April.