China Stocks Lead Asian Shares Lower as Industrial Profits Drop

Asian stocks outside of Japan dropped, led by the biggest loss in a month for Chinese shares as a decline in industrial companies’ profits signaled a deepening economic slowdown. The Topix index climbed by the most in a week amid light trading.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped less than 0.1 percent to 131.14 as of 4:01 p.m. in Hong Kong, erasing gains of as much as 0.3 percent earlier. Markets in Australia and New Zealand are shut for holidays. The Asian gauge is poised to drop 4.9 percent this year for its first back-to-back losses since 2002 amid decelerating Chinese growth and a rout in commodities. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 2.6 percent Monday and mainland shares in Hong Kong slid on concern over slowing economic growth and corruption investigations.