Selling continued in Japanese shares following the weekend, driven by the selling on Wall Street on Friday coupled with some weak economic data out of Japan. Concerns about a potential recession in the U.S. have investors on edge.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index plummeted 357.19 points, or 2.22 percent, on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, to finish below the psychologically key 16,000 at 15,764.97 while in Hong Kong, the blue chip Hang Seng Index managed to edged higher 17.09 points, or 0.07 percent, to 23,999.70.
Japanese stocks moving lower included Sony Corp., Canon Inc., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group.
In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (SCI) ignored the selling pressure in Japanese markets and moved up 78.11 points, or 1.48 percent, to finish at 5,355.29.
ELSEWHERE:
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi fell 2.60% to 1,835.87.
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 1.35% to 3,441.87.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted index fell 0.89% to 8,937.58.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX 50 edged lower 0.22% to 4,142.89.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.38% to 6,209.60.
with files from other wire services
