Asian shares down on poor US week

Shares across Asia were in negative territory in early trading on Monday after a poor week on Wall Street.

Manufacturing activity in China, the world' second largest economy, was at a 15-month low at the end of last week, reports the BBC.

The mainland's benchmark index, the Shanghai Composite, was down 1.4% to 4,015.89 points.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index traded 1.6% down at 24,731.69 points.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index was 0.4% down to 20,471.20 points.

In South Korea, the Kospi Index was down by 0.3% to 2,040.56 points.

Australia's shares were also flat with business sentiment weighed down by the ongoing slump in commodity prices.

The country's ASX/200 remained unchanged at 5,561.70 points.