Sydney — Asian share markets traded mixed on Monday as caution gripped investors in a week in which the Federal Reserve is likely to increase US interest rates and perhaps signal that as many as three more lie in store for the rest of the year. Japan’s Nikkei extended early losses to drop 0.9% as exporters were undermined by recent broad-based strength in the yen. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.35%, but China managed to eke out some gains. The guarded mood was not confined to Asia, with the June contract for e-minis futures on the S&P 500 down 0.3% and FTSE futures off 0.2%. While Wall Street had bounced on Friday, the major indices still ended lower for the week. The Dow lost 1.57%, the S&P 1.04% and the Nasdaq 1.27%. The decline was somewhat surprising given figures from Bank of America Merrill Lynch showed a record $43.3bn of inflows into equities last week, outpacing bond flows for the first time since 2013. For the year so far, $9.8bn has gon...
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