** China stocks also ended lower, erasing earlier gains,
despite Beijing's fresh monetary-easing measures to support
economic growth.
** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index slumped
2.7%, the lowest close since early December. The Hang Seng China
Enterprises Index lost 2.2%.
** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai
Composite Index both lost about 0.5%.
** Investors remained fearful about what could happen next
after a week in which Credit Suisse - a systemically important
lender in one of Europe's financial capitals - was brought to
its knees by the turmoil in the bond market resulting from the
collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, sending Asian shares lower.
** Over the weekend, UBS said it would buy Credit Suisse for
3 billion francs ($3.2 billion) and assume up to $5.4 billion in
losses, a shotgun merger engineered by Swiss authorities that
investors hope can head off an even bigger mess in global
markets.
** Hong Kong-listed banking stocks tumbled nevertheless on
Monday, as the complete write-off of the troubled bank's bond
value soured sentiment.
** HSBC's Hong Kong listed shares slumped more than 6%, posting the biggest one-day percentage loss in nearly six months. Bank of East Asia shares dropped more than 4% to a 10-week low. Standard Chartered Plc tumbled more than 7%, the worst performance in a year.
** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong tumbled 2.8%,
while healthcare stocks plunged 4.1%.
** China stocks fell even after the country's central bank
said on Friday it would cut the amount of cash that banks must
hold as reserves for the first time this year to help keep
liquidity ample and support a nascent economic recovery.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and
Muralikumar Anantharaman)
