Asian shares mostly lower as Bank of Japan meets

Bangkok, Dec. 18 (BNA): Asian shares were mostly lower on Monday as the Bank of Japan began a 2-day meeting that is being watched for hints of a change to the central bank’s longstanding near-zero interest rate policy.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9% to 16,633.98 and the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower to 2,938.79.

Debt-laded developer Country Garden lost 2.4%, while China Evergrande declined 1.3%. Sino-Ocean Group Holding shed 2.2%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.3% to 7,420.30. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2% to 2,569.40 and Bangkok’s SET was down 0.2%.

M.I.