Markets in China, Japan and South Korea closed for the holidays

SINGAPORE – Australian stocks fell on Monday morning as major Asian markets were closed for the holidays.

Australia’s S & P / ASX 200 fell 1.29% as shares of major miners fell: Rio Tinto fell 2.64%, Fortescue Metals Group fell 2.95% while BHP slipped 3 , 01%.

The MSCI’s largest Asia-Pacific stock index outside of Japan traded down 0.38%.

The trading day is expected to be relatively calm regionally, with markets in mainland China, Japan and South Korea closed for the holidays on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks struggled during the seasonally weak September, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting three straight weeks of losses – its first in 2021.

Investors will likely focus this week on the next US Federal Reserve meeting in September to get clues about the central bank’s reduction in its accommodative monetary policy.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 93.234 after a recent jump below 93.

The Japanese yen was at 110.02 per dollar, having weakened last week below 109.6 against the greenback. The Australian dollar traded at $ 0.7263, after slipping above $ 0.736 last week.

Oil prices were down on the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping 0.27% to $ 75.14 a barrel. US crude futures fell 0.29% to $ 71.76 per barrel.