06:37 AM EDT, 10/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets churned on Monday, as traders weighed chip-stock values, global crude prices and awaited major central bank policy statements.

The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of Japan will make rate decisions this week, starting on Wednesday in Washington.

Hong Kong and Shanghai finished in the green, while Tokyo fell back. Other regional exchanges were mixed and largely muted, with Taiwan trading floors dark on holiday.

Brent crude futures declined 1.6% to $109.92 a barrel during Asian market hours.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed down 0.8% as traders backed away from semiconductor- and AI-related shares.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 503.81 to 62,189.65, although gaining issues outnumbered losers 149 to 72, as decliners were concentrated in the tech sector.

Leading the upside was oil driller Inpex, up 4.9%, while online marketplace Mercari declined 6.2%.

In economic news, Japan's leading economic index, which gauges the outlook based on indicators such as job offers and consumer sentiment, rose to 118.0 in August from 117.6 in July, reported the Cabinet Office.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly and rose to the close, finishing up 0.5% as strength in oil and property issues outweighed tech-stock softness.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 118.44 to 23,211.81, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 58 to 32. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.4% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 1.8%.

Leading the upside was PetroChina, gaining 5.8%, while Zijin Mining declined 5.8%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,697.50.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI fell 1.5%; the Australian ASX 200 rose 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.1%, and the Thai Set rose 1.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.7%.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2% on the day.

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