(MENAFN- FxPro) Asian shares fell on Monday as investors took note of prospects for a U.S. rate hike before the end of the year.
The Nikkei 225 fell 1.29% and the Shanghai Composite was down 2.44%.
Earlier, Japan's corporate services index rose 0.4%, below the 0.6% gain expected year-on-year for June.
Last week, U.S. equities markets fell broadly on Friday closing lower for a fourth consecutive session, as lagging performances from stocks in the Basic Materials, Health Care and Energy industries weighed on the major indices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted mild losses to remain in negative territory for the year, while the NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 Composite index each fell by more than 1% to extend prior losses on the week. The Dow lost 163.39 or 0.92% to close at 17,568.39, while the NASDAQ dropped 57.78 or 1.12% to end the week at 5,088.63.
The S&P 500 fell 22.50 or 1.07%, as all 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Health Care, Basic Materials and Energy industries lagged, each falling more than 2% on the session.
Also, last week, soft Chinese factory data fueled fears over slackening demand for raw materials.
Private sector data showed that manufacturing activity in China slowed to a 15-month low in July.
The preliminary reading of the Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 48.2 from a final reading of 49.4 in June. It was the lowest reading since April 2014.
The weak data indicated that growth in China, the world's largest consumer of raw materials, remains sluggish.
In the U.S., data on Friday showed that new home sales fell to a seven-month low in June, while another report showed that manufacturing activity edged higher this month.
The Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes fell 6.8% last month, to an annual rate of 482,000 units, the lowest level since November.
May's figure was revised down to 517,000 units from the previously reported 546,000 units.
A separate report showed that the Markit manufacturing PMI ticked up to 53.8 this month from 53.6 in June, which was the slowest pace since October 2013.
The mixed data came as investors were turning their attention to the upcoming Federal Reserve policy announcement on Wednesday amid ongoing speculation over the timing of an initial interest rate hike.
The Federal Reserve said Friday it inadvertently released confidential staff economic projections to its public Web site June 29 and then made the information public € and then, Friday night, issued a corrected version.
The staff estimates projected the federal funds rate at 0.35% in this year's fourth quarter, up slightly from the current range of zero to 0.25%, suggesting to some analysts that the change was a reflection of the possibility of liftoff before year end.
For next year the nominal Fed funds rate goes to 1.26% by the fourth quarter, 2.12% by the end of 2017, 2.80% by the end of 2018, 3.17% by late 2019 and 3.34% in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Estimates of long-run inflation expectations for 2015 to 2017 were 1.80%, 1.83% in 2018, 1.86% 2019 and 1.88% in 2020.
The Fed said the information is part of code uploaded about every three months to feed into the Fed's model of the U.S. economy "including a set of illustrative economic projections."
In the week ahead, the U.S. is to publish an initial estimate on second quarter growth on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the euro zone is to release data on consumer inflation and the unemployment rate on Friday. Investors will also be monitoring progress in Greece's bailout negotiations.
On Monday, in the euro zone, the Ifo Institute is to report on German business climate.
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