Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Monday, with the weak commodity prices and worries about the Chinese economy sapping investors' risk appetite. Worries about weakness in the Chinese yuan and how authorities convey their market expectations continue to unnerve investors. Emerging-markets currencies also saw volatility, with the South African rand tumbling 9 percent before stemming its slide. The markets in Japan are closed on Monday in observance of Coming of Age Day.
Hang Seng dropped 501.08 points or 2.45% to 19,952.63, Straits Times declined 52.53 points or 1.91% to 2,698.70, Taiwan Weighted decreased 89.78 points or 1.14% to 7,804.19, KOSPI Index slipped 13.26 points or 0.69% to 1,904.36, Shanghai Composite contracted 76.46 points or 2.40% to 3,109.95, Jakarta Composite crumbled 73.53 points or 1.62% to 4,472.76, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 11.78 points or 0.71% to 1,645.83.