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Korea's Kospi Tumbles 3%; Asia-Pacific Markets Drop as Negative Sentiment Remains

Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Shares in the Asia-Pacific mostly fell sharply on Monday as negative sentiment continues to weigh in on markets.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan dropped 2.66% to 26,431.55, and the Topix also slipped 2.71% to 1,864.28. South Korea's Kospi tumbled 3.02% to 2,220.94 and the Kosdaq plunged 5.07% to 692.37.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.6% to 6,469.40. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 1.34% lower.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.21% in the final hour of trade, erasing earlier gains, with the Hang Seng Tech Index bucking the trend and rising by 1.61%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.2% to 3,051.23 and the Shenzhen Component was down 0.398% to 10,962.56.

The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee is scheduled to meet later this week, and China is expected to release data on factory activity at the end of the week.

Onewo, a subsidiary of property developer China Vanke, is set to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange this week as well.

Australian LNG producer Woodside is a buy: Atlas Funds Management

Woodside has the lowest production costs among Australian LNG producers, and is not subject to the "political meddling" that its peers are under, Atlas Funds Management said.

Santos and Origin Energy face pressure to keep gas for local consumption instead of exporting it, Atlas' Chief Investment Officer Hugh Dive told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia."

"There are a lot of moves and political meddling there to conserve gas into the East Coast… gas in Woodside is exported up into East Asia," he said.

Woodside is located in West Australia whereas peers like Santos and Origin are located on the East Coast of Australia and may be forced to sell their energy locally at a discounted price.

— Su-Lin Tan

British pound drops to record low

The sterling fell to a record low in Asia's morning, briefly shedding more than 4% to $1.0382.

It later recovered slightly to $1.0513.

The dollar index — which trades against a basket of six currencies including the euro, yen and sterling — gained about 1%.

— Abigail Ng

U.S. Treasury yields jump as Asian markets tumble, 2-year Treasury hits 4.3%

Yields on the U.S. 2-year Treasury note climbed further to briefly mark 4.3%, after reaching new 15-year highs late last week following the Federal Reserve's latest rate hike.

The 2-year Treasury was last trading at 4.2865%, while the 5-year Treasury also inched up to 4.0678%.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions, with one basis point equaling 0.01%.

The 10-year Treasury moved up to trade at 3.7607%.

—Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Asset manager says one FAANG stock looks 'very attractive' in the medium term

One Big Tech stock looks "very attractive" in the medium term, according to Neil Veitch, investment director at SVM Asset Management.

He told CNBC Pro Talks that the stock is his favorite among the FAANG stocks — a grouping which includes Facebook-parent MetaAmazonAppleNetflix and Google-parent Alphabet.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Macao casino stocks get boost from Hong Kong quarantine changes

Shares of Macao casino operators jumped following Hong Kong's announcement on changes to its hotel quarantine policy for inbound travelers.

Sands China jumped more than 18%, Wynn Macau rose 9.33% and Galaxy Entertainment also gained 9%. Casino and entertainment resorts developer SJM Holdings also jumped 13%.

Hong Kong could potentially recover 3-4 percentage points of GDP upon a full reopening, Andrew Tilton, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Goldman Sachs said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."

—Jihye Lee

Bank of Korea sees the Fed raising rates by another 75 basis points, governor says

The Bank of Korea expects the U.S. Fed to hike rates by another 75 basis points at its upcoming meeting in November.

"We see the Fed raising interest rates by 75 basis points at the next meeting, and another shock could come from how much they'll hike after that," Bank of Korea governor Rhee Chang-yong told lawmakers in Seoul. 

Reiterating median forecasts that show the Fed will hike rates to 4.4% by the end of 2022, Rhee said, "Markets are still digesting the shocks from this adjustment."

"Nobody expected the [Fed] terminal rate to rise this much."

When asked about reports of currency swap agreements between the U.S. and South Korea, Rhee said "there have been exchanges of information" between the two countries, without elaborating further.

—Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Morningstar reveals its top high-dividend global stocks — and gives three 30% upside

Morningstar has revealed its pick of global stocks with the highest dividend yields, saying they stand out in an environment where many companies may not be able to maintain their dividends due to "economic strain."

Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

China raises FX risk reserve ratio to support yuan strength

The People's Bank of China announced Monday it would increase the risk reserve requirement on foreign exchange forward sales to 20% from 0%, effective Tuesday. The move makes selling the yuan more expensive.

The currency has weakened in the last several weeks, hitting two-year lows against the U.S. dollar, which has strengthened globally. Analysts say Chinese officials have signaled that they are taking action to stop the currency from falling further.

China's onshore and offshore currency stood past the 7.15 mark against the greenback in early Monday Asia hours.

—Iris Wang

CNBC Pro: Dan Niles predicts when the S&P 500 might bottom, and reveals how he's profited this year

Hedge fund manager Dan Niles has revealed his outlook for the S&P 500 after the Federal Reserve hiked rates by 75 basis points for the third consecutive time.

He shared the level he expects the S&P 500 to fall to, and stressed that "nothing that is safe" for investors right now.

Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Asian currencies weaken against the greenback

The Japanese yen lost ground against the U.S. dollar in Asia's morning trade, changing hands at 143.60.

The offshore Chinese yuan weakened to 7.1475 per dollar.

South Korea's won was at its weakest levels since 2009, trading at 1,423 against the greenback.

Australia's dollar, meanwhile, strengthened slightly to $0.6532.

— Abigail Ng

Stocks prepare to test their lows in the final week of trading for September

Heading into the final week of trading for September, the Dow and S&P 500 are each down about 6% for the month, while the Nasdaq has lost 8%.

Both the Dow and S&P are now sitting 1.2% and 1.6%, respectively, above their lows from mid-June. The Nasdaq is 2.9% above its low.

— Tanaya Macheel

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