SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific fell Monday morning as investors continued to monitor the situation around Ukraine.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 2% in early trading while the Topix index lost 1.8%. The South Korean Kospi lost 1.64%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.82% in morning trade.
MSCI’s broadest Asia Pacific ex-Japan equity index traded down 0.36%.
Fears of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine should continue to weigh on investor sentiment. US President Joe Biden abruptly canceled plans to return home to Delaware on Sunday following a high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis.
Looking ahead, China is expected to announce its latest benchmark lending rate on Monday, with the latest one-year lending prime rate (LPR) due for release at 9:15 a.m. HK/SIN. The 24 financial institutions, according to a Reuters snapshot poll, predicted no change in the one-year LPR.
Markets in the United States are closed on Monday for a public holiday.
Currencies
The Japanese yen was trading at 114.92 to the dollar after strengthening to around 114.8 against the greenback late last week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7167 after falling from above $0.72 at the end of last week.
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