Tokyo's main index bucks the trend as bank earnings' forecast disappoint
Asian equities are generally higher on the day with Chinese stocks leading gains but the Nikkei failed to get a lift from the improved sentiment as Japanese bank stocks slumped alongside weaker sentiment in US financials in overnight trading as well.
The Hang Seng index is the lead gainer among Asian equities, up 0.8%, as Tencent reported better-than-expected earnings after the close yesterday. Aside from that, E-minis are trading flat on the day now so that's not really driving much direction in risk sentiment to start the day.
USD/JPY is trading marginally lower at 113.52 currently as the dollar is holding weaker across the board. And aside from AUD/JPY, other yen pairs have been kept in a tight range as we head into European trading later.
