Hong Kong leads losses in Asia markets, China shadow bank Zhongzhi files for bankruptcy

Asia-Pacific markets reversed earlier gains on Monday, with Hong Kong stocks leading losses in the region. The Hang Seng index plunged over 2%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was down 0.89%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6%, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.33% and the small-cap Kosdaq dropped marginally. Japan’s markets were closed for a public holiday. On Friday in the U.S., all three major indexes gained after a stronger-than-expected jobs report. The U.S. economy added many more jobs than anticipated in December, with nonfarm payrolls growing by 216,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%.