Asia shares down on poor US week

Shares across Asia were in negative territory in early trading on Monday after a poor week on Wall Street.

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Manufacturing activity in China, the world' second largest economy, was at a 15-month low at the end of last week, reports the BBC.

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The mainland's benchmark index, the Shanghai Composite, was down 1.4 per cent to 4,015.89 points.

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Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index traded 1.6 percent down at 24,731.69 points.

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Japan's Nikkei 225 index was 0.4 percent down to 20,471.20 points.

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In South Korea, the Kospi Index was down by 0.3 percent to 2,040.56 points.

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Australia's shares were also flat with business sentiment weighed down by the ongoing slump in commodity prices.

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The country's ASX/200 remained unchanged at 5,561.70 points.