Asia-Pacific markets largely fell on Monday after UBS agreed to buy its banking rival Credit Suisse in a $3.2 billion takeover over the weekend.
The Hang Seng index led losses in the region, falling over 2.5% and dragged down by health-care stocks. The Hang Seng Tech index was 2.6% lower.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.14%, while the Shenzhen Component was 0.28% higher. This comes after China left its one-year and five-year loan prime rate unchanged at 3.65% and 4.3% respectively.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.16%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 1.02% down and the Topix was 1.17% lower.
South Korea’s Kospi is 0.47% lower, but the Kosdaq bucked the trend in Asian markets, trading at 0.47% higher.
On Friday, U.S. stocks fell to round off a roller coaster week as investors pulled back from positions in First Republic and other bank shares amid lingering concerns over the state of the U.S. banking sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.19%, the S&P 500 slid 1.10%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.74%.
