Asian markets early outlook
Asian markets slid Monday after terror attacks in Paris made investors cautious and data showed Japan entered a recession for the second time in two years.
The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.8%, South Korea's Kospi shed 1% and Australia's S&P /ASX 200 slipped 0.7%.
The Hang Seng Index fell 1.8% and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.4%.
The Japanese yen, which investors tend to seek as a haven asset, reached its strongest level in roughly a week, last up 0.1% at Yen122.47 per U.S. dollar compared with late Friday in Asia .
The euro fell to as low as $1.0685 compared with $1.0745 earlier Monday. It last traded at $1.0722 .
The Australian dollar was last down 0.4% at $0.71 compared with its late day trading level Friday.
Michael Gable , a portfolio manager at Fairmont equities in Sydney said he expects the U.S. dollar to strengthen and the Australian dollar to weaken in the short-term, as investors scramble for safety.
On Sunday evening, France launched extensive airstrikes against Islamic State's stronghold in Syria . That followed terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 129 people in multiple locations around Paris on Friday.
Despite immediate market jitters, analysts are wary that the attacks will spark any prolonged selling.
"I can't find any appropriate word other than 'uncertain' for potential economic impact" of the attacks, said Tomohiro Okawa , an equity strategist at UBS Securities Japan, adding that any selling likely would be "transient."
Earlier Monday, data showed Japan's economy entered a recession in the third quarter, shrinking 0.8% on an annualized basis. That marks the second consecutive period of contraction, a common definition of a recession, after a 0.7% fall in the second quarter.
"Considering how hard [Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe's worked to try to get the economy up again, he still hasn't been able to do it," said Evan Lucas , market analyst at brokerage IG, referring to Mr. Abe's efforts to boost the economy since he took office in 2012.
Asian shares also extended losses from last week, as investors brace for the Federal Reserve to raise rates as soon as December. The majority of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expect a lift in rates next month, which would mark the first such increase since 2006.
On Friday, U.S. stocks slid, snapping a six-week winning streak as retail shares tumbled on weak earnings and economic data.
In Asia , "there's a big drag from the fact that U.S. equity markets are seeing really big downward movements and increased volatility last week, " said Mr. Lucas.
In China , data over the weekend showed inflows into Chinese capital markets in October, a sign that Beijing's efforts to keep money from flowing out of the country after August's surprise currency devaluation could be bearing fruit. The inflows in October snap four straight months of outflows.
The People's Bank of China and financial institutions bought a net 12.94 billion yuan ( $2.03 billion ) worth of foreign currencies during October, according to a calculation by The Wall Street Journal .
Meanwhile, Beijing's anticorruption campaign pushed further into the financial sector, with officials announcing that Yao Gang , one of four vice chairman at China's stock regulator, was suspected of serious violations of discipline, language the antigraft body typically uses for suspected corruption.
Mr. Gao heads the regulatory group's powerful listing department, which recently said it would soon allow Chinese companies to go public again. Authorities had halted IPOs in July as part of measures to try to stop China's stock market from falling.
Brent crude oil was up 0.9% at $44.87 .
Gold prices rose 1.1% at $1,092.40 , part of a broad flight to safer assets.
Kosaku Narioka and Vera Sprothen contributed to this article.
Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-15-15 2055ET
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