Consumer sectors lead China markets lower

Chinese markets closed on Monday lower, weighted down mainly by consumer stocks.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.63 percent to close at 3,316.94 points after choppy trading.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.72 percent to finish at 13,149.50, while the ChiNext Index fell 1.03 percent to 2,569.22 points.

Volume on the two main bourses was 755 billion yuan (US$111.6 billion), compared with 835.6 billion yuan in the previous session.

Leisure services, automobiles, food and beverage companies were among the day's top losers, while the performances of non-bank financial sectors diverged.

Brokerage stocks strengthened following news of the merger of Guolian Securities and Sinolink Securities over the weekend. Meanwhile, insurance stocks wiped out gains from the previous session.

Heavyweight military shares performed strongly.

Kang Shuiyue, chairman and chief investment officer of Danyang Investment, said in an interview with Caixin that the valuation of brokerage stocks is low and their fundamentals are strong, so there remains correction room for brokers.

Excluding Japan, Asian equities have had a remarkable turnaround this year, notwithstanding the recent correction, according to UBS Wealth Management Chief Investment Office.

Rallying more than 40 percent since lows in March, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index is now 8 percent higher than the start of the year, outperforming global equities by 5 percentage points, it noted.

Quality cyclicals, such as information technology, consumer discretionary and communication services, posted a solid 23 percent gain on average year to date, supported by positive earnings revisions since June, according to UBS.