Candidate for Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen has announced her intention to work on a second bailout package. Speaking at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, she called on lawmakers to take massive action to stave off a protracted economic downturn.

Japanese index Nikkei 225 to 8:27 Moscow time fell by 0.4%. Investors are taking profits after the market rallied to a 30-year high, analysts said.

Market participants are also concerned about the increase in cases of coronavirus infection in the country.

ANA Holdings lost 3.3% on forecasts that financial performance for the first nine months of the fiscal year (April-December) will be the worst in the airline's history. In addition, the shares of the transport company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (-3.3%), Keio Corp. (-3.8%), Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. (-3.7%) are among the leaders in the decline in quotations.. The market value of investment and technology SoftBank Group (-0.8%), automaker Toyota Motor (-0.3%), and Asia's largest apparel retailer Fast Retailing (-1.7%) also declined.

At the same time, the papers of the semiconductor manufacturer Advantest Corp. rise in price by 0.7%. The Chinese Shanghai Composite index by 8:53 GMT+2 increased by 0.2%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose by 0.9%. The most significant growth in the course of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the shares of the online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (+ 7.3%) after its owner billionaire Jack Ma made his first public appearance in almost three months. In addition, shares of one of the key players in the country's Internet services sector, Meituan (+ 6.3%), pharmaceutical Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. (+ 5.6%), automaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (+ 5.2%), Internet giant Tencent Holdings (+ 2.7%). Meanwhile, the most significant decline in quotations was demonstrated by the shares of the telecommunications company China Unicom (-4.3%) and the insurer AIA Group Ltd. (-3.7%).

The South Korean Kospi index by 8:38 GMT+2 increased by 0.4%. At the same time, the market value of one of the world's largest chip manufacturers, Samsung Electronics Co. increased by 0.1%, carmaker Hyundai Motor - decreased by 0.6%. The Australian S & P / ASX 200 added 0.4% on the trading results, approaching the maximum in the last ten months. At the same time, the capitalization of the world's largest mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto grew by 0.9% and 0.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, according to the calculations of the Institute of Melbourne and Westpac Bank, the consumer sentiment index in Australia fell to 107 points in January, compared with 112 points in December.