Asian Shares Mixed as Oil Prices Fall and Dollar Softens

Shares in Asia were mixed Tuesday, as oil prices fell and the dollar softened ahead of a key meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve at Jackson Hole, this week.

The Nikkei Stock Average was trading 0.3% lower on yen strength, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8% higher as demand for dollar-denominated metals increased as they became cheaper to buy. The Hang Seng Index was down 0.4% with the Shanghai Composite nearly flat and the Kospi up 0.2%.

The firmer yen weighed on Japanese exporters by making them less competitive, with auto makers Honda Motor Co. Ltd. down 2.3% and Mazda Motor Corp. shedding 2.5% of its value. Elsewhere, energy shares in Australia were pressured by crude's price declines, with Oil Search Ltd. trading down 0.4% and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. down 0.8%.

Overall, though, market moves were small and trade thin.

"There's still a sort of 'end of summer' trade of low volumes and low volatility and I think in general we are seeing a bit of that continuing into the Asian session," said Angus Nicholson, an analyst at IG Markets Limited.

Looking ahead, investors will be keeping an eye out for Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's speech at a financial technology conference later Tuesday .

More broadly, markets are awaiting policy details from the U.S. Fed this week when its officials bankers gather at Jackson Hole. Any decisions made will likely impact the dollar and dictate its strength against regional Asian currencies.

Hiroyuki Kachi contributed to this article.

Write to Ese Erheriene at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 22, 2016 22:25 ET (02:25 GMT)

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