Mainland stocks slid across the board on Monday, dragging the country's benchmark indexes to three-month lows, as escalating US-Iran tensions dented risk appetite and triggered profit-taking in some sectors.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 38 points, or 0.2 percent, to end at 24,213 on turnover of HK$309.51 billion.

The tech index dropped 45 points, or one percent, to 4,676 while the China enterprises index gained 26 points, or 0.3 percent, to 8,065.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 82 points, or 2.06 percent, at 3,913, its lowest level since April 7, on turnover of 1.335 trillion yuan.

The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 1.8 percent, also hovering near a three-month low.

The Shenzhen Component Index was down 523 points, or 3.48 percent, at 14,522 on turnover of 1.48 trillion yuan while the ChiNext Index closed down 119 points, or 3.1 percent, at 3,723 on turnover of 693 billion yuan.

Losses were broad-based, with the defence sector index down 6.9 percent, the rare earth sector down 6.7 percent and the satellite sector down 7.6 percent.

Tech shares also gave back some of their major gains, with the CSI AI index dropping three percent and the CSI Semiconductors Index down nearly four percent.

Small-cap shares tracked by the CSI 2000 Index fell 5.7 percent, their biggest single-day drop since April 2025.

In contrast, defensive sectors such as banks, energy and consumer staples rose between 0.2 percent and 1.7 percent.

"With weak domestic demand combined with strong profit-taking sentiment in certain sectors, the market is unlikely to stage a sustained sharp rally and range-bound fluctuation will remain the dominant trend," Nanhua Futures said in a note.

Blue chips are likely to retain their relative advantage, as their defensive characteristics stand out and offer certain benefits during market corrections, while small- and mid-caps are likely to see further valuation adjustments, they added.

Investors are awaiting trade data and second-quarter mainland GDP this week, which will provide more clues on the health of the world's second-largest economy.

China's exports for June are forecast to have risen 18.2 percent from a year earlier in dollar terms, according to 20 economists in a survey, cooling from 19.4 percent in May.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei share average ended 1,315 points, or 1.92 percent, lower at 67,242 as investors weighed the corporate outlook after the renewed Middle East conflict raised oil prices.

The broader Topix lost 28 points, or 0.71 percent, to 4,007.

In Seoul, SK Hynix shares fell more than 15 percent in its biggest one-day decline on record to send Kospi down 669 points, or 8.95 percent, to 6,806, triggering a 20-minute trading halt in the process. (Reuters/Xinhua)



Edited by Tony Sabine