The WSJ reports,"stocks in Hong Kong and Japan were trading close to break-even on Monday, as investors paused after recent stock gains.
Asia started the trading week with small moves as markets lacked a cue from the U.S., where Wall Street was closed on Friday due to the Fourth of July holiday.
The Nikkei was less than 0.1% higher, while the yen was little moved--last at ¥102.17 to the dollar, compared with ¥102.09 at the end of last week. Investors in Tokyo were taking a pause after the Nikkei Share Average hit a five-month high on Friday.
"There is a dearth of trading cues this week, which compounds the lack of participation brought on by the U.S. holiday," said Chibagin Asset Management general manager, Yoshihiro Okumura.
Elsewhere in Asia, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1%, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.4%, and Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.2%.
The quiet trading came after a positive week for Asian stocks, which have been buoyed by upbeat data from the world's two largest economies. In particular, Chinese manufacturing data has supported the view that China's economy has troughed, after a recent slow patch. Also last week, the U.S. labor report showed robust job growth in June.
More data from China is forthcoming, with the country releasing trade data on Thursday and second-quarter growth figures next week.
In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up less than 0.1% and the Shanghai Composite Index was flat".
