ASIA MARKETS: Asian Shares Lower; Japan Plays Catch-up

By Daniel Inman

Asian markets were lower on Tuesday following a negative lead from the U.S.

Stocks in Tokyo resumed trading after a public holiday on Monday with the Nikkei Average down 0.3% with a stronger yen (USDJPY) weighing on the market.

The currency strengthened slightly to 98.70 yen to the dollar early in Asia compared with Yen98.84 late on Monday in New York and Yen99.33 late on Friday.

Exporters in Tokyo were affected by the firmer currency -- especially car companies. Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) dropped 0.6%, and Honda Motor Co. (HMC) was 0.4% lower.

Japan was catching up with regional losses in the previous session when markets continued to come down from the initial excitement following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision last week to leave its bond buying unchanged. That gave markets in Asia a boost on Thursday.

Regional markets took their lead from the U.S. where Wall Street ended Monday lower as investors continued trying to determine the Fed's monetary-policy plans. One official from the central bank said on Monday the economy isn't strong enough for a pullback of easy-money policies.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 was 0.4% lower with declines in local miners. Rio Tinto (RIO) dropped 0.8%, and BHP Billiton (BHP) slid 0.6%.

 
   South Korea's Kospi   fell 0.5%. 
 

A number of Asian companies supplying U.S. technology giant Apple (AAPL) moved higher on Tuesday after the company reported a "record breaking" opening weekend for its newest iPhones. Apple's stock finished 5% higher on Monday, and on Tuesday Murata Manufacturing Co. (6981.OK) gained 2.3% in Tokyo, and LG Display (LPL) rose 3% in Seoul.

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires