Brief recovery over as Chinese markets tumble again

Chinese shares on Monday resumed their downward trend as the yuan weakened further.

The Shanghai Composite shed 2.7% to 2,687.9 points, dashing hopes that Friday's brief recovery could be sustained.

The index was down as much as 4.4% in the morning, hitting a 15-month low.

The losses came despite the G20 meeting in Shanghai over the weekend pledging to work towards boosting growth both in China and globally.

The yuan edged lower against the dollar as the central bank set a softer midpoint of 6.5452 per dollar - the lowest in almost one month.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng also lost ground, but fared better than the mainland, closing down 1.3% at 19,111.9 points.

Mixed Japan data

Japanese shares also failed to extend their gains from last Friday, trading flat as the government released mixed economic data.

The latest figures showed industrial output rose by 3.7% in January, the first increase in three months.

However, retail sales disappointed, falling by 0.1% in January, compared to forecasts for a 0.5% rise.

The Nikkei 225 index closed 1% lower at 16,026.7 points.

Gaming giant Nintendo's shares finished the day 0.5% down after dropping sharply by 5% at one point in early trade.

It's not all smiles and cheers for Nintendo

The drop came after Friday's announcement that its full-year profit would be half of its original forecast.

Due to a stronger yen and disappointing sales of its handheld gaming consoles and software, the company slashed its full-year profit outlook to 17bn yen (£150m), down from the previously expected 35bn yen.

Elsewhere in Asia

In Sydney, the ASX 200 closed flat at 4,880.9 points.

The lacklustre performance comes ahead of Australia's fourth-quarter economic growth data released on Wednesday.

In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi index also finished the day flat at 1,916.6 points.

Samsung shares rose by 1.3% following Friday's decision by a US appeals court to overturn a verdict against the company in a longstanding patent dispute with Apple.