Markets in Asia closed mostly lower Monday, on the back of another Wall Street sell-off Friday. Major indexes in Australia and Japan were nearing bear market territory, down over 18 percent from their 52-week closing highs.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 191.54 points, or 1.1%, to 16,955.57. The index is off 18.7% from its 52-week high of 20,868.03, set June 2015.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong subtracted 283.32 points, or 1.5%, to 19,237.45
Export-oriented stocks such as Toyota, Nissan and Sharp finished in the red, , after trading mixed in the afternoon session. Index heavyweight Fast Retailing closed down 0.7%.
Shares of Toshiba saw gains Monday, with its shares finishing up 2.5% after news that Fujifilm plans to bid for the struggling electronics manufacturer's fully owned medical equipment unit, Toshiba Medical Systems. Reports said Hitachi, Canon and Sony are also among interested parties eyeing the business unit.
Australian markets were down sharply, nearing bear market territory after falling 18.8% from its 52-week high of 5,982.69 set April 2015. Energy sector weighed heavily on the index, down 3.4%. Santos tumbled 8.4%, Oil Search falling 5.1% and Woodside Petroleum sliding 2.6% by the market close.
Other energy plays across the region also saw red, with Japan's Inpex losing 1.5% and Japan Petroleum sliding 2.1%. South Korean oil plays such as S-Oil, SK Innovation and GS Holdings closed mixed
Taiwan's Taiex closed up following an election over the weekend where the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive party won a convincing victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections.
Resources and financial stocks in Australia closed mostly down. Shares of miners Rio Tinto dropped 2.1% and BHP Billiton slid 2.9%. Iron ore producer Fortescue erased losses to finish up 1.3%.
Among the country's so-called four biggest banks, ANZ performed the weakest, losing 2.01 percent. The rest of the banks also closed in negative territory.
CHINA
The CSI 300 Index regrouped 12 points, or 0.4%, to 3,130.73.
With China set to release its fourth-quarter gross domestic product numbers for 2015 on Tuesday, some analysts believe the recent rout in Chinese equities may worsen. China will also be releasing a slew of economic data Tuesday, including industrial production, fixed asset investment and retail sales.
Earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics released the December new home prices, which rose 7.7% on-year, up from November's 6.5% increase. Shanghai and Shenzhen-listed property stocks were mostly up, with Lvjing finishing up 4.1%, Gemdale up 2.9%, Shanghai Shi Mao gaining 1.9% and Poly Real Estateseeing gains of 0.2%.
Before market open, the People's Bank of China fixed its dollar-yuan mid-point at 6.5590, signaling a stronger yuan compared with Friday's fix of 6.5637.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index dropped 37.76 points, or 1.4%, to 2,593
The Kospi in Korea retreated 0.42 points to 1,878.45
Taiwan’s Taiex index gained 49.17 points, or 0.6%, to 7,811.18
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 slumped 67.65 points, or 1.1%, to 6,101.44
The ASX 200 fell 34.1 points, or 0.7%, to 4,858.70
