Gloomy atmosphere on several major Asian stock exchanges

Several of Asia's leading stock exchanges began the trading week with gloomy faces, after France's political instability sparked concern on the global markets.

In Tokyo, the key Nikkei 225 index had fallen by 1.8 per cent by lunchtime, and the broader Topix index was down 1.5 per cent. Shanghai's composite index had also retreated by 0.4 per cent.

In Hong Kong, however, the outlook was brighter, with a 0.9 per cent gain. The upswing was led by finance and technology companies, after new figures showed that Chinese retail sales had performed better than expected.