Asian shares lower as China trade data sends dour signal

Investing.com - Shanghai and Hong Kong led Asian stocks markets lower on Monday, as weak trade data from China weighed on regional sentiment, while shares in Malaysia Airlines sank after one of its planes went missing over the weekend.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.6% while the Shanghai Composite in mainland China was 1.7% lower.

The Chinese currency and copper prices were also hit by the trade data. The yuan fell as low as 6.1594 to the dollar early in the session, compared with Friday's close of 6.1260 in New York, and was last trading at 6.1402 per dollar.

LME three-month copper prices fell to their lowest levels since June in Asia, and were last trading at $6,715.25 a metric ton, a 1% decline from Friday's closing price.

Along with weak manufacturing data so far this year, the trade figures became the latest poor economic number to come out of China. The resulting concerns over the economy have made Chinese stocks among the region's worst performers in 2014, with the Hang Seng Index down 4.3% year-to-date--second only to the Nikkei, which is 7% lower over the same period.

Elsewhere in Asia, the impact was felt most in Australia--a country with strong trade ties with China. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.8%. Mining stocks were badly hit, with Rio Tinto losing 5% and BHP Billiton 3.5% lower.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.9% and Japan's Nikkei was 0.8% lower after the country posted a fourth straight month of current-account deficit in January. The yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar and was last trading at ¥103.12 to the dollar, compared with ¥103.26 late Friday in New York.

Last week, in U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.05%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.37%.

European indices, meanwhile, finished lower.

After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 1.50%, France's CAC 40 fell 1.15%, while Germany's DAX 30 fell 2.01%. In the U.K. the FTSE 100 fell 1.12%.