Shanghai Stocks Drop

Shanghai stocks dropped 5.8% Monday, suffering their biggest percentage drop so far this year, as lower commodity prices, persistent worries over tightening in bank loans and weak economic data dampened investor sentiment.

Photo: Shanghai Stocks Drop

Hong Kong shares were also weighed down by the performance as well as a steep fall in U.S. stock futures and commodity prices. In Tokyo, exporters were dragged down by the yen's strength as risk-averse investors bought the low-yielding currency in search of a perceived safe haven , Wall Street Journal reports.

Meanwhile, the equity sell off began on Friday after weaker-than-expected US consumer confidence data. The losses extended across Asia and Europe on Monday, as Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 Average lost 3.1 per cent to 10,268.61 – its biggest one-day fall in five months – and the FTSE Eurofirst 300 traded 2.2 per cent lower at 919.97.

Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s Xetra Dax lost 2.2 per cent to 5,194.98, while London’s FTSE 100 shed 1.8 per cent to 4,627.57 , Financial Times reports , BusinessWeek reports.

However, despite market uncertainty, China Overseas, which has bought three pieces of land in China for about HK$3.8 billion so far this year "will continue to acquire prime land at low cost through various ways and means" to ensurean annual profit increase of over 20 percent in the next four to five years, according to Monday's statement , Reuters reports.