Asian shares mostly lower as recession fears deepen

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower on Monday after Wall Street closed out a miserable September with a loss of 9.3%, the worst monthly decline since March 2020.

Tokyo rose while other regional markets declined. Shanghai was closed for China’s weeklong National Day holidays.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6% to 26,100.68 after a Bank of Japan quarterly survey showed sentiment among manufacturers has darkened, reflecting rising costs, the weakening yen and lingering pandemic-related restrictions.

The headline measure for the “tankan,” measuring sentiment among large manufacturers, was plus 8, down from plus 9 the previous quarter. The tankan measures corporate sentiment by subtracting the number of companies saying business conditions are negative from those responding they are positive.

“Today’s Tankan survey suggests that while the services sector is benefitting from the subsiding virus wave, the outlook for the manufacturing sector continues to worsen," said a report from Capital Economics. It noted it was the third consecutive decline in sentiment for the world's third largest economy.

The BOJ has kept interest rates below zero in a longstanding effort to encourage inflation and keep deflation at bay as the country ages and its population shrinks. That has kept the value of the yen weak relative to the U.S. dollar, which has been strengthening as the Federal Reserve raises rates to combat decades-high inflation.

The dollar was trading at 144.92 yen early Monday, up from 144.68 yen late Friday. The euro was at 97.91 cents, down from 97.96 cents.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.3% to 16,995.98 and the Kospi in Seoul declined 0.4% to 3,118.11. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 6,466.70. Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.7% and...