Asian stocks sit at 6-week lows ahead of BOJ, RBA

The stocks on the Asian bourses trade largely mixed on Tuesday, meandering near six-week lows, as cautious sentiment prevails ahead of the key central banks’ policy decision later this session. Both BOJ and RBA are widely expected to keep its monetary policy setting unchanged this month.

Markets also paid little attention to stronger-than expected Chinese official and Caixin manufacturing PMI reports earlier on the day. Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index, the "fear gauge" of near-term investor anxiety held near monthly tops, which indicated broader market uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 trades -0.15% lower at 17.406, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 drops -0.53% to 5,290. The Chinese equities defend gains, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index up +0.25%, while CSI300 index also rises +0.28%. Hong Kong markets rally +1.44% to trade around 23,260 levels.