Asian markets were mixed Monday, with Japanese shares losing ground on the back of a lower dollar/yen pair, which has hovered at the 111 level since Friday. Australia's ASX 200 was up 0.64 percent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 gave up gains to trade lower 0.34 percent and the Kospi in South Korea was near flat. Down Under, the benchmark index was boosted by the financials sub-index, up 0.96 percent, with the country's so-called Big Four banks - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac and NAB - adding between 0.9 and 1.29 percent. In Japan, data from Bank of Japan (BOJ) showed that its decision to adopt negative interest rates in late January has not convinced Japanese companies that inflation in the country will take off. Additional data released on Monday as part of the BOJ's Tankan survey for March showed that companies expected prices to increase on average 0.8 percent a year from now, lower than their previous expectations of a 1 percent increase earlier this year. Firms expect prices to go up 1.1 percent over three years, lower than their previous expectations of a 1.3 percent rise. The Tankan survey was originally released on Friday. The yen, which has strengthened since the BOJ's decision to introduce negative rates in January, was at the 111 handle against the dollar on Monday; as of 11:56 a.m. HK/SIN, the dollar/yen pair traded at 111.45. Stephen Innes, a senior FX trader at OANDA, said in a note the pair's struggle was due to the "haven appeal for dollar weakness" and had little to do with yen strength. Major Japanese exporters were lower, with shares of Toyota down 2.79 percent, Nissan off 3.4 percent and Honda lower by 1.78 percent. A stronger yen is a negative for exporters as it affects their overseas profits when converted into local currency.
