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Asia-Pacific markets drop as BoJ meeting begins

BoJ

Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged down 0.7%, the Topix was 0.65% lower, South Korea’s Kospi was 0.9% lower, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.92% and Hong Kong Hang Seng index edged down 0.8%

Asia-Pacific markets dropped across the region on Tuesday as the Bank of Japan begins its two-day monetary policy meeting.

When the meeting concludes Wednesday, the Bank of Japan is expected to hike its benchmark interest rate and cut Japanese government bond purchases.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged down 0.7%, while the broad-based Topix was 0.65% lower. Japan’s unemployment rate came in slightly lower than expected in July, at 2.5%.

South Korea’s Kospi was 0.9% lower, while the small-cap Kosdaq saw a smaller loss of 0.7%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.92%. Heavyweight miner Fortescue dropped by as much as 9.23% after the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported that JPMorgan’s equity capital markets team was looking for buyers for 1.9 billion Australian dollars ($1.2 billion) of discounted Fortescue stock on behalf of an undisclosed institutional investor.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index edged down 0.8%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 slid slightly, extending its losses after ending at its lowest level in around six months on Monday.

Overnight in the U.S., the three major indexes were mixed at close, with the S&P 500 slightly up as Wall Street braced for a busy week of corporate earnings and looked ahead to a key policy announcement from the U.S. central bank.

Economists do not expect the Federal Reserve to make any changes to the federal funds rate during this meeting, but traders will look for clues on whether the U.S. central bank will cut rates in September.

The broad market index advanced 0.08%, and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.07%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.12%.

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