Markets in China, Japan and Hong Kong tumbled Monday, with renewed concerns over China's economic fundamentals and the deluge of economic data due this week dragging stocks.

Vishnu Varathan, senior economist at Mizuho Bank, wrote in a morning note that risk appetite remains "exceptionally weak" as more investors turn to safe-haven assets. "U.S. 10-year bond yields dropping below 1.8 percent and sharp gains in safe-haven Japanese yen and gold prove this point," he said in the note.



On the Chinese mainland, the pared some losses to close down 79.38 points, or 2.87 percent, at 2,687.82, after earlier trading down as much as 4.63 percent. The Shenzhen composite slid 93.18 points, or 5.36 percent to 1,643.35.



The recovery in China's property market may be driving some of the stock sell-off, Dow Jones reported, saying capital may be fleeing the stock market as interest in home buying increases.

Market watchers were also still ambivalent about the mainland markets.

"The market is very complicated," Chris Choy, chief investment officer at Quam Asset Management, told CNBC's Squawk Box. "The problem I think goes back to the fundamentals. On the China economy, we still have reservations and on the other hand, I think the government still puts in too much to manipulate the market, which can not (allow) the market to reflect true value."

But Choy said he's still interested in selected sectors, such as insurance and technology, which will benefit from growth in middle-class spending.

Some analysts expect rocky trading this week amid a deluge of economic data in the region.

"Markets look set for a volatile week as a raft of data releases globally set markets up for a dramatic reweighting of growth expectations," wrote Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at IG, in his morning note.



The Japanese benchmark index, the , gave up early gains Monday, closing down 161.65 points, or 1 percent, at 16,026.76, after earlier trading up as much as 1.5 percent. Last week, the index added about 1.39 percent.



Shares of troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp closed down 2.27 percent. Its shares fell 26 percent between Feb. 23- 26.

Sharp shares fell after its takeover deal from Taiwan's Foxconn, which was announced Thursday, was put on hold. The latter said it would not sign the deal until Sharp clarified previously undisclosed contingent liabilities, reported Reuters. On Monday, Sharp said there was no deadline for finalizing a deal, following a report over the weekend from the Nikkei setting March 7 as the timeline for an agreement.

In the currency market, the yen strengthened against the dollar, falling to the 112 handle, with the pair trading down 1 percent at 112.83 as of 2.25 p.m. HK/SIN. A stronger yen is a negative for Japan's exporters as it hurts earnings when overseas profits are translated back into the home currency. Among exporters, Toyota fell 0.22 percent and Honda shed 0.33 percent.



Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi closed down 3.5 points, or 0.18 percent, at 1,916.66. Hong Kong's closed down 252.22 points, or 1.3 percent, at 19,111.93.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 finished flat at 4,880.90. The heavily-weighted financials sector gave up early gains to trade down 0.35 percent, while the gold sector fell 1.73 percent.