Asian equities decline on growth concerns

Asian shares declined in Monday in late morning trade on concern Greece may exit the currency bloc and as a Chinese central bank board member warned of slowing growth.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index tumbled 1.5% at 11:14 a.m. in Tokyo.  Equities fell after Song Guoqing, a member of the People’s Bank of China monetary policy committee, said that China’s economic expansion may cool for a seventh straight quarter to 7.4% in the three months to September.

In Europe, Greece’s creditors will meet this week amid doubts that the country will meet its bailout commitments. The Der Spiegel magazine reported that the International Monetary Fund will stop paying further rescue aid to Greece, making the country’s insolvency in September more likely.

In another bad news, when another region of Spain, Murcia, said on Sunday it would seek government financial assistance.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 2.6% dragged down by its largest constituent, HSBC, which tumbled 4.1%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.15%.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average 225 declined 1.18% as local exporters with a large exposure to Europe were hit by the weakened euro. Sony fell 3.1% and camera maker Ricoh sank 5.6%.

Korea’s KOSPI Index fell 2.3% as investors offloaded banks and energy stocks at the start of a busy week of earnings reports, with releases from major companies like LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor on the slate.