Asian shares fell to seven-month lows as positive trade data from China failed to ease concerns over global economic growth. World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings on Saturday called for bold action to boost economic recovery.
But September trade figures from China painted a rosier picture, as export and import growth beat market expectations, BBC said.
That, however, did little to boost the MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan, which fell 0.8%.
In Hong Kong, stocks headed lower at the start of the trading session as police began to remove barricades at sites where pro-democracy demonstrators held rallies.
But strength in blue chip stocks helped turn around the Hong Kong market, with the benchmark Hang Seng index reversing earlier losses to close up 0.2% at 23,143.38.
China Mobile shares gained 1.8% on news it had signed a business deal with Germany’s Deutsche Telekom last Friday.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite closed the Monday session down 0.4% at 2,366.01.
In Australia, shares hit their lowest since February as economic uncertainty weighed on the big banks. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 0.6% at 5,155.5 points. Commonwealth Bank of Australia was down 0.9%, while shares in ANZ dropped 0.6%.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7% to close at 1,927.21, with tech shares leading the downtrend. Samsung Electronics was down 0.2%, while LG Electronics fell more than 2%. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
Stocks Drop
Emerging-market stocks headed for the lowest level in six months, led by technology and industrial shares, amid concern the global economy is slowing. Russian equities climbed from a two-month low.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. led the Taiex Index to its biggest drop since 2012 after a rout in US technology shares. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index pared gains as investors assessed protests in Hong Kong. Russian shares rose 1.7 percent as the nation said it was pulling back forces from Ukraine’s borders.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.2 percent to 987.6 at 1:44 pm in London, sending valuations to a five-month low.
Valuations
The developing-nation gauge has dropped 1.5 percent this year and trades at 10.6 times projected 12-month earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The MSCI World Index has fallen 1.8 percent and is valued at a multiple of 14.2.
Seven out of ten industry groups in the emerging-markets measure decreased as gauges of technology and industrial companies sank at least 0.9 percent. Taiwan Semiconductor, the world’s biggest custom chipmaker, slid the most since July 17 as the Taiex tumbled 2.8 percent. The market was shut on Oct. 10 when the Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 2.3 percent after Microchip Technology Inc. said product orders missed forecasts.
