Asian shares closed mixed on Monday, with Japanese stocks pressured by strength in the yen after the dollar dropped on U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of the Federal Reserve. The Nikkei 225 dropped 1.33 percent, or 300.89 points, to close at 22,396.99 as the dollar extended its losses against the Japanese currency. Against the yen, the dollar traded at 110.98 at 2:55 p.m. HK/SIN, after dipping as low as 110.74 earlier in the session following a Reuters report that the Bank of Japan was engaging in "unusually active discussions" ahead of its July decision. The U.S. currency was 0.37 percent weaker than the 111.4 handle seen at the end of Friday trade in New York.

Major exporters closed lower, with the electric appliances sector falling 0.98 percent and automakers declining 1.18 percent. Uniqlo-owner Fast Retailing dropped 5.72 percent. Financials, however, recorded sharp gains, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group up 3.64 percent. The broader Topix recorded more moderate declines, ending lower by 0.36 percent. Meanwhile, Chinese equities finished the day mixed. The Shanghai composite reversed early losses to climb 1.07 percent to 2,859.52, adding to sharp gains seen in the last session, as banks and industrials offset sharp losses in the health care sector. The smaller Shenzhen composite finished the day higher by 0.53 percent and the blue-chip CSI 300 index closed up 0.94 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was steady before the market close, tacking on 0.06 percent by 3:00 p.m. HK/SIN as steep losses in the tech space were offset by gains in property stocks, materials and heavily weighted financials. Elsewhere, the Kospi edged down by 0.87 percent to close at 2,269.31 as steep declines in blue chip tech stocks — including Samsung Electronics declining 2 percent and SK Hynix falling 7.05 percent — dragged the index lower. In Australia, the fell 0.93 percent to 6,227.60 amid broad-based losses, with all sectors closing in negative territory bar the energy subindex. MSCI's index of shares in Asia Pacific excluding Japan inched lower by 0.06 percent during Asia afternoon trade.

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