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.
The Hang Seng Properties index dropped to a 52-week low, last trading nearly 7% lower.
Shares of insurers listed in the city also plunged. AIA dropped about 5.2% while Ping An Insurance fell 7.43%.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia fell nearly 2%, with shares of major miners declining: Rio Tinto dropped 3.69%, Fortescue Metals Group declined 3.73% while BHP slipped 4.16%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.63%.
U.S. stock futures also saw declines in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures falling more than 300 points.
Markets in mainland China, Japan and South Korea are closed on Monday for holidays.
Investor focus for the week will likely be on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s upcoming September meeting for clues on the central bank’s tapering of its easy monetary policy.
· China Evergrande shares plummet to 11-year low on default risks
Shares of Evergrande on Monday plunged as much as 19% to their lowest in over 11 years, extending losses as investors take a dim view of its business prospects with a fast approaching deadline for payment obligations this week.
By noon, the stock had touched HK$2.06, the weakest level since May 2010.
· European shares slide 1% on global growth, taper worries
European shares sank 1% to a near two-month low on Monday, tracking Asian equities lower, as investors feared major central banks would start giving cues about tapering their pandemic-era stimulus programmes at various meetings this week.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 1.4% by 0706 GMT, with energy and mining stocks leading declines on a slide in commodities prices.
The benchmark European stocks index has now fallen for three straight weeks on worries about slowing global growth and the spillover from tighter regulation of Chinese firms.
German shares slumped 1.6% as data showed a bigger-than-expected jump in producer prices last month.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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