Asia Pacific markets traded mostly lower on Monday as investors remained cautious over global growth prospects while Chinese President Xi Jinping tried to position China as a globalization champion in a major speech.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 doffed 344.67 points, or 1.6%, to 21,898.99.
The Japanese yen traded at 113.19 to the U.S. dollar.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index shed 551.76 points, or 2.1%, to 25,934.39
Australia finished down as most sectors declined. The energy sector fell 1.3% as oil stocks mostly sold off. Shares of Santos fell 1.6% Oil Search was down 1.3% and Woodside Petroleum declined 2.3%
Central banks in the United States, Australia and New Zealand are set to meet this week.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7189 U.S.
CHINA
The CSI 300 inched back 27.41 points, or 0.8%, to 3,262.84
Xi's opening speech kicked off the week-long China International Import Expo that seeks to promote the world's second largest economy as a major consumer of global goods. The event, announced more than a year ago, will stand in contrast to the ongoing trade fight between Beijing and Washington.
During the speech, Xi repeated his rhetoric against protectionism and promoted his country as an advocate for international openness and cooperation. He discussed at length about the benefits of an open international economy and said that China is pursuing "a new round of high-standard opening up" to broaden market access to the rest of the world.
The United States has levied tariffs on an extensive list of Chinese products. Beijing, for its part, unsuccessfully tried to negotiate on tariffs by offering to buy more U.S. goods, but ultimately responded with duties on products from the U.S.
The impact of the ongoing trade war is being felt as companies report higher production costs and trim outlook. On Friday, Chinese tech giant Alibaba lowered its full-year sales forecast, citing concerns about the economic impact of the trade war.
Xi's speech at the expo comes a day before Americans head to the polls for mid-term elections.
The on-shore yuan traded at 6.9203 to the U.S. dollar Monday afternoon while the off-shore yuan fetched 6.9161. China's central bank set the yuan mid-point at 6.8976 against the greenback — the People's Bank of China allows the exchange rate for the on-shore yuan to rise or fall 2% from the official midpoint rate set every morning.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times STI index dropped 55.77 points, or 1.8%, to 3,060.62
In Taiwan, the Taiex index retreated 16.78 points, or 0.2%, to 9,889.81
In Korea, the Kospi index slid 19.08 points, or 0.9%, at 2,076.92
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 56.82 points, or 0.6%, to 8,778.78
In Australia, the ASX 200 faded 31.06 points, or 0.5%, to 5,818.14
