Investing.com - Asian shares fell on Monday as investors eased to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve review of interest rates this week widely expected to see the first hike in nearly a decade, and shrugged off regional data including solid industrial production from China.
The Nikkei 225 fell 2.46%, while the S&P/ASX 200 eased 1.33% and the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.34%.
In Japan, the Tankan manufacturing index for large firms was steady at plus-12 for the fourth quarter, while the large non-manufacturing index dipped to plus-18 from plus-19. A positive figure indicates the majority of firms see better business conditions.
China on Saturday said that industrial production in November rose 6.2% year-on-year, while retail sales gained 11.2% and fixed investment increased 10.2%.
All three economic indicators published by the National Bureau of Statistics beat estimates of economists, with industrial output growth standing out with a far better performance than expected.
After lending and imports topped forecasts earlier in the week, November has ended up offering some signs that the country's economic slowdown is stabilizing after the government's additional monetary and fiscal stimulus this year.
In the week ahead, investors will be focusing their attention on Wednesday’s outcome of the final Fed meeting of 2015. U.S. economic reports on inflation, manufacturing activity and industrial production will also be closely watched ahead of the rate announcement.
Wednesday’s survey data on euro zone private sector growth will be scrutinized by market watchers for signs of a recovery in the region. On Monday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is to speak at an event in Italy.
Last week, U.S. stocks ended one of their worst weeks of 2015 with sharp losses on Friday, as a week-long commodity rout continued to drag down the major indices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 309.54 or 1.76% to 17,265.21, while the NASDAQ Composite index lost 111.71 or 2.21% to 4,933.46, each capping their least productive weeks in more than a month. The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, dropped by 39.86 or 1.94% to 2,012.37, as all 10 sectors closed in the red. Besides the energy industry, stocks in the Financials, Technology, Consumer Services and Basic Materials sectors all fell by more than 2% on the session.