SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific declined in Monday morning trade as investors look ahead to the release of Chinese trade data for April.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.22% in early trade as shares of conglomerate SoftBank Group dropped more than 2%. The Topix index shed 0.89%.
South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.34% while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 0.31%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.28% lower.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 103.767 following a recent jump from levels below 103.2.
The Japanese yen traded at 130.79 per dollar, weaker as compared with levels below 129 seen against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7041 after last week’s drop from above $0.721.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping 0.6% to $111.72 per barrel. U.S. crude futures declined 0.67% to $109.04 per barrel.