Asia markets retreat, led by China losses

MARKETS across Asia ended markedly lower on Monday, as the US dollar gained on strong economic data and Chinese markets plunged despite central bank efforts to shore up an economy dragged down by the ongoing trade war.

In a sign of growing concern over US-China relations, foreign investors dumped 9.7 billion yuan (S$2 billion) of A shares in the Chinese markets' first session after a week-long break.

The massive sell-off came even as the People's Bank of China (PBoC) announced over the weekend that it would cut its reserve requirement ratio for selected lenders for the fourth time this year, freeing up about 1.2 trillion yuan (S$241.2 billion) in liquidity.