Chinese stocks plunged Monday, spurring a trading halt for the rest of the session, and leading stock markets in Asia Pacific lower after feeble manufacturing surveys revived concerns over the mainland's economic slowdown.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 collapsed 582.73 points, or 3.1%, to 18,450.98
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dumped 582.73 points, or 3.1%, to begin the day, month and year at 21,327.12
In Japan, shares of Toshiba were up 2% after reports of potential mergers with Sharp, facilitated by a Japanese state-backed fund, as Toshiba continues its ongoing restructuring process, following an accounting scandal in 2015.
The Nikkei business daily reported Toshiba was looking to merge its white goods segment with Sharp. Shares of Sharp were down 0.8%
Samsung Electronics shares fell 4.4% after reports emerged that the company's chief executive, Kwon Oh-hyun, warned employees of challenging conditions ahead, due to low global growth and greater competition. Samsung is expected to issue earnings guidance for the fourth quarter ended December on Friday.
Gaming shares in Hong Kong traded down up to 3.8% after Macau's December gaming revenue fell 21% to $2.3 billion U.S., for a 19th straight month of declines. Shares of Wynn Macau were down 2.4%, while Sands China fell 3%
South Korea's manufacturing activity for December expanded for the first time in 10 months, with the Nikkei/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a measure of factory activity, climbing to 50.7 on a seasonally adjusted basis, from November's reading of 49.1.
Some oil stocks saw a rebound, trading up on the back of higher oil prices during Asian trade. In Australia, energy stocks closed up as much as 6.1%. Japan's Inpex saw a gain of 2.2% for the day. Chinese oil plays trading in the Hong Kong market were lower, with shares of PetroChina down 1.2% and Sinopec down 3.2%.
Australian resource stocks Rio Tinto closed down 0.2%, while BHP Billiton slid 0.3%
Shares of Treasury Wine were down 1.5%. Earlier, the company announced that it had completed its acquisition of Diageo's wine business in the U.S. and United Kingdom.
CHINA
The CSI 300 Index dropped 261.94 points, or 7%, to 3,469.07. When the index rises or falls 7%, a trading halt in China's markets is triggered for the rest of the session.
Mainland brokerages saw heavy losses before the trading halt kicked in, with mainland-listed shares of Citic Securities dropping 9.7% and Guosen Securities falling 9.3%
Before trade, the People's Bank of China set the yuan midpoint at 6.5032 against its previous fixing of 6.4936. The yuan traded at 6.5081 against the U.S. dollar.
China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a measure of factory activity, stood at 49.7 in December, in line with market expectations. On the other hand, the official non-manufacturing PMI was up 54.4, from November's reading of 53.6. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction in activity on a monthly basis.
The Caixin December manufacturing PMI was down at 48.2, compared with 48.6 in November. The Caixin PMI is a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, which focuses on smaller and medium-sized companies.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index slid 46.76 points, or 1.6%, to 2,835.97
The Kospi fell off 42.55 points, or 2.2%, to 1,918.76
New Zealand markets had the day off
Taiwan’s Taiex index jettisoned 223.8 points, or 2.7%, to 8,114.26
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 picked up 4.87 points, or 0.1%, to 6,324.26
The ASX 200 fell 25.42 points, or 0.5%, to 5,270.48
