DHAKA: Asian shares traded lower as political uncertainty in Greece and a sell-off in commodities weighed on investors’ appetite.

Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras failed to get enough support for his presidential nominee on Monday and will call an election for 25 January.

The price of copper also fell to its lowest in four-and-a-half years on a strong dollar and a slowdown in China.

Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.6% to 17,450.77 on its last trading day this year, reports the BBC.

But the index ends the year up 7.1%, driven by aggressive asset purchases by the Bank of Japan and a weaker yen that boosted company profits.

The dollar was at 120.41 yen from 120.66 yen in morning trade.

Japanese markets will be shut for the reminder of this week and will reopen next Monday.

China shares traded in opposite directions with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 0.9% at 23,550.44.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite bucked the trend and was up 0.7% to 3,189.64.

BDST: 1612 HRS, DEC 30, 2014