Asian markets end lower in holiday-hit trade

Asian markets slipped in a holiday-hit trade and ended lower on Monday, as investors sentiments were dampened by a slight improvement in economic reports from China and Japan. Japan’s Nikkei went home with red mark as the yen climbed against the dollar ahead of a Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy meeting this week. Meanwhile, South Korean market closed lower despite its exports last month barely grew from a year earlier while inflation unexpectedly eased to a 7-month low on weak domestic demand, reinforcing expectations for a central bank rate cut as early as next week.

Asian markets were relatively quiet some markets including Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan remained closed for the Easter holiday.