Investing.com – Most Asian stock markets slipped on Monday, amid persisting fears over Greece's debt crisis and in the wake of India's surprise interest hike last week.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index shed 0.86%, South Korea's Kospi Composite Index shed 0.8% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 2.02%.
But the Shanghai Composite Index bucked the trend, rising 0.22%.
BHP Billiton Ltd. was among the worst performers. The world’s largest mining company dropped 1.41% in Sydney, as commodity prices fell after India’s central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates.
Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
Earlier Monday, official data showed that car sales in Australia fell 1.9% in February to 85,000, but remained 17.1% higher than a year earlier.
The outlook for European markets, meanwhile, was dim: France’s CAC 40 futures indicated a fall of 0.39%; Germany's DAX futures pointed to a drop of 0.34%; EURO STOXX 50 futures indicated a slide of 0.39%; and Britain's FTSE 100 futures pointed to a fall of 0.30%.
Later in the day, the European Central Bank president, Jean-Claude Trichet, was set to testify before the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index shed 0.86%, South Korea's Kospi Composite Index shed 0.8% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 2.02%.
But the Shanghai Composite Index bucked the trend, rising 0.22%.
BHP Billiton Ltd. was among the worst performers. The world’s largest mining company dropped 1.41% in Sydney, as commodity prices fell after India’s central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates.
Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
Earlier Monday, official data showed that car sales in Australia fell 1.9% in February to 85,000, but remained 17.1% higher than a year earlier.
The outlook for European markets, meanwhile, was dim: France’s CAC 40 futures indicated a fall of 0.39%; Germany's DAX futures pointed to a drop of 0.34%; EURO STOXX 50 futures indicated a slide of 0.39%; and Britain's FTSE 100 futures pointed to a fall of 0.30%.
Later in the day, the European Central Bank president, Jean-Claude Trichet, was set to testify before the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels.