Asia stocks drop on risk-off mood; Yen gains on dollar

Asian markets were trading broadly lower on Tuesday morning after Wall Street closed in the red overnight, while the stronger yen sent stocks down in Tokyo.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.12% to 18,923.78 points in morning trade, while Tokyo's broader Topix gauge fell 0.14% to 1,556.88 points.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index shed 0.49% to trade at 23,003.31 points and mainland China's benchmark Shanghai Composite plummeted 1.22% to 3,387.80 points at the same time.

Korea's benchmark Kospi index fell 0.23% to 2,043.47 points on Tuesday morning in Seoul.

The benchmark Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index marginally up at 5,347.80 points in Sydney.

The benchmark New Zealand S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.45% to 5,997.66 points this afternoon in Wellington.

New Zealand's trade gap grew from a revised $1.08 billion in August to $1.22 billion last month, according to Statistics New Zealand data released on Tuesday, coming in weaker than analysts' median estimate of a $825 million deficit. Exports rose 2.0% year-on-year in September, while imports fell 1.3%.