Investing.com - Asian shares eased on Thursday as jitters over global monetary policies rose ahead of key meetings by the Bank of Japan and U.S. Federal Reserve next week.
The Nikkei 225 fell 1.20%, the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.22% and the Shanghai Composite was down 0.68%.
In Australia, Jobs data from Australia showed a surprise drop of 3,900 jobs in August for the employment change figures, compared to an expected 15,000 increase. Still, the unemployment rate dipped to 5.6%, below the 5.7% figure seen as the participation rate eased to 64.7% from 64.9%. The data highlights spare capacity in the economy which the Reserve Bank of Australia has noted puts downward pressure on wages - wage growth is key for the inflation outlook to return at least to the bottom of the target band by the end of the RBA's forecast period.
The Bank of Japan's September 21 decision was bumped up a notch in market eyes on a report Wednesday suggesting a further move on negative interest rates could be announced on the same day the Federal Reserve decision on a rate hike takes place, possibly producing spillover effects.
At stake is whether BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will announce steps that stem from a review of monetary policy called for at the last meeting, which some analysts say stem from intense pressure by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to get a clearer handle on effective policy options. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) expects the BoJ "to maintain its current policy framework at next week's meeting and rather use the comprehensive assessment to increase the visibility of future policy direction."
Elsewhere, Fed Governor Lael Brainard said on Monday that the case to tighten monetary policy in the coming months is less compelling. The comments dampened expectations for a rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting which is scheduled for September 20-21. Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool showed a 15% chance of a rate hike next week.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Utilities and Healthcare sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Financials and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.18% to hit a new 1-month low, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.06%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.36%.