In corporate news, Japan Post Holdings reported a $3.6 billion writedown on it’s Australian logistics unit, Toll Holdings. Japan Post also estimated losses of 40 billion yen ($362.35 million). This will be its first annual loss in around ten years.
Meanwhile, embattled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba said it would be parting ways with its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata, according to the Nikkei. The auditor had not endorsed Toshiba’s Q3 earnings which had been released earlier this month.
BHP Billiton cut its production targets for iron ore, coking coal and copper. The miner attributed the cut in production guidance to poor weather conditions in Australia.
In currency news, the dollar traded against a basket of rival currencies at 98.835, dipping once more below the 99 handle. Meanwhile, the greenback sank against the yen, trading at 111.04, its weakest level in about a fortnight. Against the dollar, the Aussie traded at $0.7536, off the $0.756 handle seen on Monday.
Oil prices settled slightly higher after recording declines in the past six sessions but later ceded gains on a build in U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude futures settled 50 cents higher at $52.10 a barrel while U.S. crude futures settled up 33 cents to $49.56.
On the economic calendar, Australia reports Q1 CPI at 9:30 am HK/SIN while Singapore industrial production numbers for March are expected at 1:00 pm. The Bank of Japan also embarks on a two-day meeting beginning today.
