Stocks in Asia were lower on Monday after a strong jobs report last Friday stateside moderated expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could soon be making a move on interest rates.

In mainland China, the Shanghai composite fell 2.58% on the day to 2,933.36, while the Shenzhen component declined 2.72% to finish its trading day at 9,186.29. The Shenzhen composite also shed 2.898% to close at 1,554.80.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.66%, as of 3:15 p.m. HK/SIN, following another round of protests that rocked the city on Sunday. At the same time, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index also fell 1.42%.

India's Nifty 50 declined 1.67% as shares of Punjab National Bank plunged more than 10% after the bank reported the discovery of fraud amounting to about 38 billion rupees ($554 million).

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.98% to end its trading day at 21,534.35, while the Topix index shed 0.89% to close at 1,578.40.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi dropped 2.2% to close at 2,064.17, as shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 2.74%.

The moves came as Tokyo and Seoul remain locked in a dispute over forced wartime labor, with Japan imposing tighter restrictions last week on the export of high-tech materials used in smartphone displays and chips to South Korea.

"Our basecase for the trajectory of this trade issue and Japan-South Korea relations as a whole is broadly negative," Scott Seaman, director of Asia at Eurasia Group, wrote in a note. "In a nutshell, we believe the two governments will engage in a tit-for-tat exchange of retaliatory measures for at least the next several months that further sours bilateral relations."

Meanwhile, the in Australia declined 1.17% to close at 6,672.2. Shares of major miners slipped on news of a probe by Chinese steelmakers on the surge in iron ore prices. Rio Tinto shed 0.98% and BHP Billiton fell 1.77%.