Asian shares traded in negative territory on Monday as markets turned cautious, following the surprise hung parliament result from the UK election last Friday and as markets await the results of the first round of France's parliamentary elections.

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The Nikkei 225 was down by 0.64 percent and South Korea's benchmark Kospi index fell 0.75 percent.

Markets in greater China opened in the red. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was lower by 0.56 percent. The Shanghai Composite dipped 0.28 percent and the Shenzhen Composite was down by 0.635 percent.

Markets in Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines are closed today for public holidays.

Meanwhile, a source said Western Digital would be increasing its bid for Toshiba's memory chip unit to USD 18 billion or more, Reuters reported. Shares of Toshiba rose 4.49 percent on the news.

Tech stocks in Japan and South Korea came under pressure after major tech names in the US fell almost 3 percent in the last trading session. Korean internet companies Naver and Kakao were down 5.1 and 4.55 percent respectively. In Japan, Nintendo was down 3.13 percent.

The dollar dipped slightly against a basket of six major currencies after hitting a ten-day high last week. The dollar index traded at 97.174 at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN. Dollar/yen trended lower to trade at 110.22 yen, compared to levels around the 110.4 handle seen in the last session.

The upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday US time should be supportive for the dollar, said Mizuho Bank Senior Economist Vishnu Varathan in a morning note.

"With expectations consolidating around (a) Fed rate hike and further guidance on balance sheet reduction, dollar shorts could be generally cautious, which could support the dollar into the FOMC meeting this week," Varathan said. Receding political tension stateside following the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey is likely to be dollar-supportive too, he added.

Pound sterling was slightly firmer after falling as much as 2.5 percent last week when the UK election resulted in no party being able to claim a majority at parliament. Cable traded at USD 1.2743 at 9:32 a.m. HK/SIN.

In energy news, oil prices rose slightly after finishing last week down by around 4 percent. Brent crude rose 0.46 percent to trade at USD 48.37 a barrel and US West Texas International crude added 0.48 percent to trade at USD 46.05.

Japan April core machinery orders, which tend to be volatile, fell 3.1 percent on month — greater than the 1.3 percent decline projected, Reuters said.

A barrage of data is expected through the trading day. Singapore April retail sales are due at 1:00 p.m. HK/SIN and China new yuan loan numbers for May are expected at 3:00 p.m. India will report April industrial production figures and May CPI data at 8:00 p.m.

Stateside, stocks closed mixed in the last session, with tech stocks under pressure after hitting record highs at the beginning of the session. The Nasdaq tumbled 1.8 percent or 113.85 points to end at 6,207.92.

First Published:Jun 12, 2017 7:24 AM IST