Asian shares mostly weaker with Shanghai bucking trend on easing hopes

Investing.com - Stocks in Tokyo fell slightly after the break while Australia shrugged off indications of rising business confidence and conditions as markets except China fell on Tuesday.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.15%, while the Nikkei 225 was down 0.11% and the Hang Seng index eased 0.50%. The Shanghai Composite however was up 0.96% on hopes for further moves by the central bank to ease policy in the face of a trade slowdown and slower domestic growth prospects.

The NAB Business Confidence & Business Conditions survey for Australia saw conditions at plus-6 in March from plus-2 in February and confidence at plus-3, from flat in February.

The Reserve Bank of Australia will note the rise in capex intentions in the NAB survey has a higher weighting for non-mining investments.

Elsewhere, the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Tuesday said it will keep its current monetary policy stance unchanged, allowing a further "modest and gradual appreciation," of the Singapore dollar as growth and inflation appear to be heading in the direction expected.

The decision was a bit of a surprise to many analysts who had expected the MAS to announce its second policy easing in as little as three months.

Elsewhere, central bank decision is due in Indonesia around 1530 Jakarta time (0630 GMT).

From China data releases this morning are possible for first quarter forex reserves and new loans and money supply.

Overnight, stocks on the U.S. equities markets on Monday, as a minor sell-off late in the session reversed earlier gains.

With a wave of quarterly earnings in the financial sector on the forefront, the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved above the 18,000 level early in the session, before settling at 17,977.04, down 80.61 or 0.45%.

The S&P 500 Composite index also closed lower to end a three-day winning streak, while the NASDAQ Composite index approached an all-time record high before closing just below the 5,000 level.

The S&P 500 fell 9.63 or 0.46% to 2,092.43, as stocks in the Energy, Utilities and Industrials sectors lagged. Stocks in the Financial sector led, as it finished the session as the only industry in the green.

Underlying sentiment are growing expectations for a U.S. rate hike in the coming months as investors regained confidence that the U.S. economy would continue to recover after recent economic reports pointed to a slowdown at the start of the year.