SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific slipped in Wednesday morning trade. Markets in mainland China are set to return to trade following holidays on Monday and Tuesday.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.3% in early trade while the Topix index shed 0.36%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dipped fractionally.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.13% lower.
Mainland China markets reopen on Wednesday following holidays on Monday and Tuesday. Investors will watch for reaction to the ongoing fallout surrounding embattled developer China Evergrande Group.
Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea are closed on Wednesday for holidays.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 50.63 points to 33,919,84 while the S&P 500 declined around 0.1% to 4,354.19. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, rising 0.22% to 14,746.40.
Investors look ahead to the policy statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve, expected Wednesday stateside, for signals on when the central bank could taper its bond purchase program.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 93.228 after sliding from levels above 93.3 earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.14 per dollar, having strengthened form around 110 against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7227 following its decline yesterday from above $0.725.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.24% to $74.54 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 0.27% to $70.68 per barrel.