Nikkei falls over 1% as yen strengthens; Asia markets trade mixed ahead of Fed meeting

Asia-Pacific stocks traded mixed on Tuesday with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping as much as 2% before paring some losses, as investors awaited for the Federal Reserve to kick off its monetary loosening cycle.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.03% lower at 36,203.22. The broad-based Topix fell 0.6% to end at 2,555.76.

The stocks fell as the yen strengthened for a sixth straight session, last at 140.65 against the dollar. It had appreciated to 139.58 yen overnight, its strongest level since July 2023.

The Fed is expected to announce its first interest rate cut since March 2022, but markets are split over the size of the reduction from the two-day policy meeting which begins Tuesday.

U.S. retail sales data is also set to take center stage as investors monitor the health of the consumer in the lead up to the Fed’s meeting.

Traders in Asia will also parse Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports for August, which rose 10.7% from a year ago, official data showed Tuesday, while falling 4.7% from the previous month. The figures compare with a Reuters forecast of a 15% year-on-year expansion and a 3.3% month-on-month drop.

Tuesday’s economic data also includes India’s wholesale prices for August, which are anticipated to have gained 1.85% year-on-year, a cooler reading than 2.04% in July.

Shares of Chinese appliance maker Midea Group surged over 9% in their Hong Kong debut from their offer price of HK$54.80 apiece. This is the city’s largest listing in more than three years.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 1.37% as of its final hour of trade.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.24% to close at 8,140.9.

South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan’s markets were closed for a holiday.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.55% to a new record high at 41,622.08, tracking the rise in the S&P 500 which was up 0.13% settling at 5,633.09. If its momentum holds up, the broad-based index could notch a new all-time this week.

Meanwhile the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.52% to finish at 17,592.13, weighed down by tech stocks.

—CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Pia Singh contributed to this report.

Clarification: The story has been updated to reflect that the yen reached its strongest level against the greenback since July 2023.