Leading Asian stock exchanges opened Tuesday's trading largely downward in a situation where investors are waiting for interest rate decisions and signals from the American central bank, while Donald Trump is preparing to take over the White House.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index had risen by 0.1 percent at lunchtime, with the broader Topix index at roughly the same level.
In Hong Kong, however, it was minus, with the Hang Seng index shrinking by 0.4 percent.
It was also red for the composite indexes in Shanghai and Shenzhen, which were down 0.6 and 1.3 percent, respectively.
In South Korea, the Kospi index was down, minus 1 percent.
