Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks extended losses on Monday, after two separate gauges of China’s factory activity suggested the manufacturing sector is in contraction.
Meanwhile, Japanese stocks retreated, dragged by weakness in Chinese and U.S. economic data.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index faltered 116.35 points, or 0.7%, to 17,558.04.
Also weighing on the markets were big losses in U.S. stocks, declines that followed downbeat U.S. gross domestic product figures at the end of last week.
The yen headed lower versus the U.S. dollar, trading at ¥117.57, compared with ¥117.41 late Friday in New York.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index moved lower 22.31 points, or 0.1%, to 24,484.74, running its losing streak to three sessions.
On Monday, the final HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) came in at 49.7 in January, slightly down from a preliminary reading of 49.8, while marginally up from 49.6 in December. It was the second month that the index remained below the 50 level, which separates expansion from contraction.
A day earlier, China’s official manufacturing PMI fell to a weaker-than-expected 49.8 in January, recording its first contraction in more than two years.
In other markets;
The Shanghai CS300 index lost 80.43 points, or 2.3%, to 3,353.96
The Kospi in Korea recovered 3.42 points, or 0.2%, to 1,952.68
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gathered 25.08 points, or 0.3%, to 9,386.99
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index regained 32.15 points, or 1%, to 3,423.35
New Zealand’s NZX 50 index recouped 12.69 points, or 0.2%, to 5,756.69
The S&P/ASX index progressed 37.02 points, or 0.7%, to 5,625.34
