Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to 7,381.40, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.6% to 2,944.52.
Recent government data have shown the coronavirus pandemic continues to hurt the Japanese economy.
The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 also sank, while the smaller stocks in the Russell 2000 index dropped even more, down 1.2%.
Stocks have been powering mostly higher over the last month as companies have widely reported much stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected.
But Target fell 4.7% even though it also reported better earnings than expected.
But the number of building permits also rose by more than expected, perhaps showing that homebuilders see those pressures eventually easing.