Stocks in Asia-Pacific mostly fell on Monday as investors look ahead to a week of crucial economic data releases, including the U.S. consumer price index that will determine the Federal Reserve's path forward.
Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.88% lower to 27,427.92 and the Topix was down 0.47% at 1,977.67 as the Japanese yen continued to remain volatile after a report that Japan will nominate Kazuo Ueda as its next central bank governor.
The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond stood at 0.5%, hovering around the BOJ's upper ceiling of its tolerance range. In South Korea, the Kospi shed 0.69% to end its session at 2452.7, while the Kosdaq climbed marginally, ending the day at 772.55.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell fractionally while the Hang Seng Tech index rose 0.5%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.72% to 3,284.16 and the Shenzhen Component gained 1.14% to 12,113.6.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2% to close the session at 7,417.8, and the S&P/NZX 50 finished 0.85% lower at 12,075.18 as New Zealand braced for further impact from tropical cyclone Gabrielle.
Stocks on Wall Street ended the week on Friday with the S&P 500 up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.61% — both indexes posting the worst week since December after a slew of corporate earnings and Federal Reserve speakers reiterated their hawkish messages that there is more work to be done to tame inflation. The Dow closed nearly 170 points higher.
— CNBC's Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim contributed to this report