Investing.com - Asian shares were mostly weaker on Monday with Tokyo bucking the trend on a weaker yen as remarks from Fed policymakers stoked the dollar.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.21% as comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer hailing the U.S. economy ahead of a speech later in the week by the Fed chief.
Elsewhere the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.04% and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.63%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down 0.47%. The yuan was lower against the dollar for a second consecutive day after the People's Bank of China weakened the fixing by the most in almost two months at 6.6652, compared with a central parity of 6.6211 previously.
In the coming week, the focus will be on a highly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for fresh clues on the timing of the next U.S. rate hike.
Last week, U.S. stocks pared sharp losses on Friday, remaining near all-time record-highs amid wavering, volatile oil prices and diverging comments from key Federal Reserve policymakers on the possibility of a near-term interest rate hike.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 45.13 or 0.24% to 18,552.57, while the S&P 500 Composite index inched down by 3.15 or 0.14% to 2,183.87, both falling short of a positive close in spite of a late rally. At session-lows, the Dow fell as much as 100 points. On the S&P 500, six of 10 sectors closed in the red as stocks in defensive Utilities and Telecommunications industries lagged. Stocks in the Technology, Industrials and Basic Materials sectors led, each gaining more than 0.10% on the session.
The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, fell 1.77 or 0.03% to 5,238.38, amid declines in media and telecom stocks. Despite the slight losses, the NASDAQ completed its first 8-week winning streak since 2010.