Asia markets were mostly down on Monday afternoon as investors attempted to shake off jitters about trade tensions between the United States and China.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 178.68 points, or 0.8%, to end Monday at 22,338.15
Among other currency pairs, the Japanese yen traded at 109.46 to the greenback.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng plummeted 377.31 points, or 1.3%, to 28,961.39
Australian markets fell Monday, as the heavily weighted financial sector declined 1%. Major banking stocks were lower.
Shares of Commonwealth Bank fell 2.3%. Before market open, Australia's largest lender said it would spin off its wealth management and mortgage broking businesses, and undertake a strategic review of its general insurance business, including a potential sale.
At the same time, the bank also announced a series of appointments and changes to its executive leadership team.
Other major banking names in the country were also down, with shares of ANZ lower by 1.1%, Westpac off by 0.6% and the National Australia Bank down by 1.12 percent.
The energy sector was up 1.6% as oil stocks mostly advanced. Share of Santos rose 1.7%, Oil Search was up 1.9% and Woodside Petroleum gained 1.5%.
The Australian dollar fetched about $0.743 U.S.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 slid 48.42 points, or 1.3%, to 3,560.48
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled-down on his rhetoric on Twitter, calling on other countries to end all trade barriers or face a new round of retaliatory measures.
Last week, Trump requested the United States Trade Representative identify $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for potential additional tariffs at a rate of 10 percent. That threat followed levies announced by both nations earlier in the month. Consequently, Beijing said it could deliver its own set of new counter measures.
The People's Bank of China said on Sunday that it would cut the amount of cash that some banks must hold as reserves by 50 basis points, releasing $108 billion in liquidity, to spur lending to smaller firms. The Chinese central bank said the targeted cut will take effect on July 5.
The on-shore yuan fell against the U.S. dollar with the pair trading at 6.5348, weakening from an earlier high of 6.4999. The off-shore yuan also weakened against the dollar, trading at 6.5449.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index lost 26.56 points, or 0.8%, to 3,260.84
The Taiex index fell 112.82 points, or 1%, to 10,786.46
In Korea, the Kospi index regained 0.66 points to 2,357.88
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 inched down 3.14 points to 8,996.24
In Australia, the ASX 200 faded 14.82 points, or 0.2%, to 6,210.41
