Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led losses among Asia-Pacific markets in Monday trade, with shares of embattled Chinese developer China Evergrande Group continuing to drop.
Markets in Japan, mainland China, Korea and Taiwan were shuttered for holiday.
The Japanese yen was at 109.71 per U.S. dollar, having weakened last week from below 109.6 against the greenback.
The Hang Seng Index tumbled 821.62 points, or 3.3%, to 24,099.14. Shares of China Evergrande Group in the city plummeted 10.2%, after falling as much as 17% earlier.
Shares of insurers listed in the city also plunged. AIA dropped 4.94% while Ping An Insurance fell 5.78%.
Australian stocks fell sharply, with shares of major miners declining: Rio Tinto dropped 3.6%, Fortescue Metals Group declined 3.7% while BHP slipped 4.2%.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7239, following its slip from above $0.736 last week.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times slid 29.5 points, or 1%, to 3,041.73
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 55.98 points, or 0.4%, to 13,178.57
In Australia, the ASX 200 plummeted 155.55 points, or 2.1%, at 7,248.17
