This week, investors are awaiting the release of a new plan to support the US economy. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden plans to present the first part of the plan, which includes infrastructure costs. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told Fox News that the second part of the plan, covering health care funding and childcare support, will be unveiled in April.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.06% by 8:12 GMT + 2.
Retail sales in Japan fell 1.5% in February 2021 from the same month last year, official data show. The rate of decline has slowed down compared to January (2.4%).
Experts on average expected a more significant drop in retail sales last month, with forecasts showing a fall of 2.8%.
Japan's retail sales rose 3.1% month-on-month, after rising 1.7% in January. This is the maximum growth since June 2020.
Japan's unemployment rate remained at 2.9% in February for the fourth month in a row. This is the lowest figure since July last year. Analysts had expected the rate to rise to 3%. For comparison, a year earlier unemployment was at around 2.4%.
Among the leaders in the decline in quotations are shares of Odakyu Electric Railway Co. (-3.5%), Rakuten Inc. (-3.2%) and Keio Corp. (-2.8%).
At the same time, the market value of the consumer electronics manufacturer Sony Corp. decreased by 1.1%
The growth leaders are Nippon Yusen K.K. (+ 6.6%), Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (+ 5.4%) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (+ 5.2%).
The price of securities investment and technology SoftBank Group Corp. rose 1%, Asia's largest apparel retailer Fast Retailing Co. rose 2.8%, semiconductor maker Advantest Corp. increased by 2%.
Nomura Holdings Inc. rise in price by 1.7%. They plunged more than 16% on Monday after an investment bank said it could suffer significant losses from deals with a US client days after the sale of shares held by a large private equity fund.
By 8:24 GMT + 2, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.33%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.95%.
The most significant shares of the clothing manufacturer Shenzhou International Group Holdings (+ 7.5%) and the construction company New World Development Co. rose in price on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (+ 5.2%) and pharmaceutical CSPC Pharmaceutical Group (+ 5%).
Meituan, one of the key players in the country's Internet services sector, is up 4.7%, online retailer Alibaba Group Holding is up 2%, and Internet giant Tencent Holdings is up 1.1%.
The leaders in the fall were China Overseas Land & Investment (-4.1%), China Resources Land (-3.9%) and China Construction Bank Corp. (-1.4%).
Automaker Geely Automobile Holdings is down 0.7%.
South Korean Kospi index by 8:27 GMT + 2 increased by 1.13%.
The market value of one of the world's largest chip manufacturers, Samsung Electronics Co. increased by 1.1%, another representative of the industry SK Hynix Inc. increased by 1.9%. Carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. rise in price by 2.1%, Kia Motors Corp. increased in price by 4.1%.
Australian indicator S & P / ASX 200 fell 0.9% by the end of the day.
The capitalization of the world's largest mining companies BHP Group and Rio Tinto decreased by 2.1% and 2.4%, respectively.
