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Asia markets were lower in early Monday trade, ahead of a series of market-moving economic data due this week.

Australia's ASX 200 was off 0.25 percent, weighed by a 0.48 percent decline in the heavily-weighted financials subindex. The energy subindex advanced 1.51 percent, while the materials subindex was up 0.63 percent.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was off 1.34 percent, while across the Korean Strait, the Kospi was near flat.

In the currency market, the dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, was at 94.17 as of 8:20 a.m. HK/SIN time. On Friday, the index finished at 94.23.

The Japanese yen broke the 108 handle, with the dollar/yen trading at 107.94 Monday morning, compared to Friday's close at 108.03.

Major exporters in Japan saw significant sell-off in morning trade, with shares of Toyota dropping 3.15 percent, Nissan down 3.25 percent and Honda off 2.98 percent. A stronger yen is a negative for exporters because it reduces their overseas profits when converted into local currency.

The yen's relative strength against the greenback has led many analysts to question if, and when, Japanese authorities might intervene in the market.

Boris Schlossberg, managing director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, explained in a note late last week that much of the decline in the dollar/yen pair "may be blamed on dollar weakness rather than yen strength as

Schlossberg added that any intervention from the Bank of Japan could prove to be problematic if US rates continue to fall in tandem.

"For dollar/yen to see any sustained support, US yields would need to stabilize and begin to rise again and Bank of Japan (BOJ) may be waiting with its teeth clenched for the Fed to act," he said.

Elsewhere, the Australian dollar traded at USD 0.7550 as of 8:35 a.m. HK/SIN time.

Major US indexes made slight gains on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing up 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 adding 0.28 percent and the Nasdaq composite higher by 0.05 percent.

On the data front, Japan's February machinery orders and China's inflation data are due today, ahead of the important China Q1 gross domestic product (GDP) data due on Friday.

First Published:Apr 11, 2016 7:45 AM IST