Asian markets mixed ahead of Bank of Japan statement

SINGAPORE — Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday with narrow trading ahead of a key statement by the Bank of Japan, which could indicate a tightening of its monetary policy.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.3 percent to 22,476.72 and South Korea’s Kospi was flat at 2,293.43. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.1 percent to 2,872.92 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.3 percent to 28,650.72. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 added 0.1 percent to 6,284.20. Shares fell in Indonesia but were higher in Taiwan and Singapore.

WALL STREET: Technology stocks have tumbled for the third day in a row, leading U.S. indexes to close lower. Microsoft and Alphabet slumped Monday and Facebook, Twitter and Netflix have all fallen at least 20 percent from their record highs earlier this month. The S&P 500 dropped 0.6 percent to 2,802.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6 percent to 25,306.83. The Nasdaq composite, which has more technology stocks among its ranks, gave up 1.4 percent 7,630.00. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks shed 0.6 percent to 1,653.13.

BOJ MEETING: Investors are watching the Bank of Japan’s statement on monetary policy due Tuesday. Sustained relatively strong growth has raised expectations that the central bank may need to consider further tempering its massive purchases of government bonds and other assets. They are also watching monetary policy meetings in the U.S. and U.K. The Bank of England is expected to nudge up its key interest rate by a quarter point on Thursday despite uncertainty around Brexit as inflation remains high.