Shares in Japan eased on Monday as data showed that Japan's industrial production fell short of expectations in October.
The Nikkei 225 index fell 136.47 points, or 0.7%, to 19,747.47, but the benchmark index still managed to add 3.5% for the month.
Japan's October industrial production was up 1.4% from the previous month while retail sales rose 1.8% for the month, year-on-year, despite weak domestic spending.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng docked 71.90 points, or 0.3%, to 21,996.42. For the month, the Hang Seng declined 2.8%.
Last week, Hong Kong stocks posted their biggest weekly drop in two months, partly hit by a Friday tumble in mainland shares. But fears eased on Monday as China's benchmark indexes managed to recoup earlier losses by the close.
Some analysts, however, say Hong Kong stocks are getting less and less attractive to investors due to the city's economic troubles and further financial deregulation in China.
In Korea, blue-chip and tech companies were mostly down on the back of a surprise decline in industrial output for October. Industrial output fell 1.4% from the previous month as manufacturing lagged.
Shares of consumer electronics giant Samsung, LG Electronics steel manufacturer Posco, and KB Financial Group, SK Hynix, and Hyundai Motor all dropped anywhere between 1.2% and 3.2% declines.
Elsewhere, shares of Kakao Corp and KT Corp rallied after a consortium led by the two companies won a preliminary license from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to launch South Korea's first internet-only bank, according to reports.
In Australia, resources producers closed mostly in red as iron ore, copper, and other metals retreated. Fortescue dropped 4.9%, while Atlas Iron capsized 4.6%.
BHP Billiton lost further ground, closing 3.6% lower as news broke that Brazil's federal and state governments plan to sue the miner for 20 billion reais ($5.24 billion U.S.) in damages for the disaster at the Samarco iron ore mine earlier this month.
A tailings dam burst in the mine, unleashing 60 million cubic meters of mud and mine waste, killing at least 13 people and polluting a major river valley, according to Reuters.
BHP co-owns Samarco with Vale, the biggest iron ore miner.
Gold miners felt the effects of lower gold prices, seeing heavy losses by afternoon. In Asian trade, spot gold continued to trade close to its lowest levels in six years, fetching $1,057 U.S. an ounce.
Newcrest Mining lost 3.9%, and Evolution Mining plummeted 10.8% while Alacer Gold and Kingsgate also closed in the red.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai inched up 9.42 points, or 0.3%, to 3,566.41, as investors continue to remain concerned over the ongoing investigations of Chinese brokerages by regulators.
Last week, the China Securities and Regulatory Commission formally launched investigations into brokerages to weed out short selling and speculation, which saw the stock market register its worst weekly performance since August after a massive selloff on Friday.
Brokerages cut most of their morning losses and closed mixed. Shares of Citic Securities closed 1.5%; China Merchants was down 0.2% while Founder Securities ticked back into the green, closing 3.3% higher. Haitong Securities, which saw the biggest plunge in its shares after trading resumed on Monday, closed near 9% lower.
Chinese banks were all trading in positive territory, boosted by the news of the likely inclusion of the yuan into the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket of currencies by International Monetary Fund (IMF). It would make the yuan an officially recognized reserve currency.
The yuan's expected inclusion into the IMF's reserve currency basket, as well as ongoing market reform, "will mean that mainland stocks will gradually become more accessible to foreign investors,” according to one expert.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index slid 3.18 points, or 0.1%, to 2,855.94
The Kospi index in Korea slumped 37.02 points, or 1.8%, to 1,991.97
Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 77.79 points, or 0.9%, to 8,320.61
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 eased 0.87 points to 6,100.15
The ASX 200 erased 36.06 points, or 0.7%, to 5,166.52
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