Asia-Pacific shares mixed; Nikkei 225 0.58% down

On Monday, Asia-Pacific shares grappled for direction, with Japanese stocks declining after the Bank of Japan acted to keep local yields near zero.

Subsequently, the benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.38% or 107.83 points to the 28,042.01 mark.

Metal stocks placed at the bottom of the index as investors continue to monitor the geopolitical crisis between Ukraine and Russia.

Pacific Metals, a manufacturer of ferronickel products, slumped 2.40 points to $34.91 per share.

Consequently, nonferrous metals producer DOWA plummeted 4.59% or 2.28 points to $47.30 per share.

Following the downturn, Zoho, a zinc maker, declined 4.60% or 1.15 points to $23.92 per share.

Moreover, Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing lost 1.92% or 9.83 points to $502.77 per share.

In the tech space, semiconductor company Advantest slashed 0.83% or 0.65 points to $77.62 per share.

Then, major exporter, Panasonic dropped 0.37% or 0.03 points to $9.79 per share. Media giant Sony also edged down 0.51% or 0.53 points to $103.95 per share.

This downturn sent a huge loss in the Asia-Pacific shares. It came after the Bank of Japan maintained its massive stimulus on Friday.

As widely expected, it retained its short-term rate target at -0.10%. Then, the country’s 10-year bond yield remained at 0%.

At the same time, the central bank warned of heightening risks to a fragile economic recovery from the Ukraine crisis.

In line with this, it anticipated remaining an outlier in the global shift towards tighter monetary policy.

Accordingly, BOJ expected the mounting fuel and raw material prices could drive up consumer inflation above its 2.00% target.

Japan, a resource-poor country, is particularly vulnerable to the economic hit from global commodity inflation.

Asia-pacific shares mixed; Hang Seng 1.30% up

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led gains among the Asia-Pacific shares. The benchmark increased 1.30% or 278.47 points to the 21,683.35 mark.

Technology shares contributed the most upturn as the Hang Seng tech index strengthened 3.00% or 0.13 points to the 4.47 mark.

Meituan skyrocketed 14.37% or 2.48 points to $19.72 per share. The significant jump came after the food online delivery giant posted positive fourth-quarter results.

Likewise, e-commerce heavyweight Alibaba rose 3.63% or 0.50 points to $14.22 per share. Similarly, gaming titan Tencent strengthened 3.82% or 1.74 points to $47.27 per share.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index dwindled 0.13% or 4.12 points to the 3,208.12 mark.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.27% or 20.10 points to 7,426.30 mark.

Furthermore, the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched down 0.06% or 0.27 points to the 582.52 mark.

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