CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are notably lower and the safe-haven Japanese yen rose to a six-week high on Monday as weak economic data from Europe and an inverted yield curve in the U.S. stoked fears of a recession.
Investors also digested news that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not find any evidence that showed U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign conspired with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
The Australian market is notably lower. Stocks are lower across the board, with gold miners bucking the trend.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is declining 68.30 points or 1.10 percent to 6,126.90, off a low of 6,124.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 69.90 points or 1.11 percent to 6,211.00. Australian shares closed higher on Friday.
In the mining space, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are declining almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is lower by more than 1 percent.
Among oil stocks, Santos is losing more than 3 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search are lower by almost 3 percent each after a fall in crude oil prices.
The big four banks - ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac - are lower in a range of 1.2 percent to 2.3 percent.
Westpac said it will set aside another A$260 million to remediate customers and the provision will negatively impact its first-half results.
Bucking the trend, gold miners are gaining after gold prices rose to a three-week high on Friday. Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are advancing more than 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S dollar on Monday. The local currency was quoted at $0.7075, down from $0.7108 on Friday.
The Japanese market is sharply lower. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 664.62 points or 3.07 percent to 20,962.72, after touching a low of 20,943.00 earlier.
The major exporters are weak as the safe-haven yen strengthened. Mitsubishi Electric is lower by more than 4 percent, while Sony is losing 3 percent. Panasonic and Canon are declining more than 2 percent each.
Shares of Eisai Co. are falling more than 16 percent after the Japanese drugmaker and its partner Biogen's decision last week to end two late-stage clinical trials of their experimental drug for Alzheimer's disease, aducanumab.
In the tech sector, Tokyo Electron is declining 3 percent and Advantest is losing more than 3 percent. Among the major automakers, Honda is declining more than 3 percent and Toyota is lower by more than 2 percent.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are lower by almost 3 percent each. In the oil sector, Inpex and Japan Petroleum are falling more than 4 percent each.
Among the other major decliners, Kajima Corp. is losing almost 4 percent, while Taisei Corp., Obayashi Corp. and Shimizu Corp. are lower by more than 3 percent each.
On the economic front, Japan will see January results for its all industry activity index today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 109 yen-range on Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong is declining almost 2 percent, while Shanghai, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia are losing more than 1 percent each. Malaysia is lower by almost 1 percent and New Zealand is down 0.5 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, partly reflecting profit taking. Lingering uncertainty about trade talks between the U.S. and China also weighed on the markets ahead of another round of high-level negotiations next week. Traders also continued to digest the Federal Reserve's dovish monetary policy announcement earlier in the week.
The Dow tumbled 460.19 points or 1.8 percent to 25,502.32, the Nasdaq plummeted 196.29 points or 2.5 percent to 7,642.67 and the S&P 500 plunged 54.17 points or 1.9 percent to 2,800.71.
The major European markets showed substantial moves to the downside on Friday. While the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both plunged by 2 percent.
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Friday as weak economic data raised worries about global growth and triggered concerns about a drop in fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down $0.94 or 1.6 percent at $59.04 a barrel.
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