SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed Monday morning as investors look ahead to the release of Chinese inflation data for March.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.61% in early trade while the Topix index shed 0.35%. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.47%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.1%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.08% lower.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.786 after recently crossing the 100 level.
The Japanese yen traded at 124.38 per dollar, weaker as compared to levels below 123.2 seen against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7444 following last week’s drop from above $0.763.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 1.59% to $101.15 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 1.67% to $96.62 per barrel.