Asian Markets Low, Nikkei Falls 1.28%

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Wednesday, with some markets in the region closed for holidays.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 led losses among the region’s major markets as it closed 1.9% lower at 6,931.70.

Mainland Chinese stocks closed mixed, with the Shanghai composite down 0.51% to 3,510.96 while the Shenzhen component advanced 0.234% to 14,484.45.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 1.28% to end the trading day at 28,044.45 while the Topix index slipped 0.66% to close at 1,895.24.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.44%.

In corporate developments, shares of Singapore Airlines were down 3.09% as as about 3:31 p.m. HK/SIN local time, with the firm set to announce its full-year results later in the day.

Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea were closed on Wednesday for holidays.

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Asian Markets Currencies & Oil

Oil prices slipped in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 1.08% to $67.97 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 1.22% to $64.69 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 89.726 following a recent slip from above 90.

The Japanese yen traded at 109.03 per dollar following an earlier high of 108.82 against the greenback. The Australian dollar traded at $0.7771, higher than levels around $0.774 seen earlier this week.