Hang Seng Index, CSI 300, gold, silver

South Korean benchmarks tumbled Monday, leading wider declines in the region.

The Kospi index fell more than 4%, while the Kospi 200 futures dropped as much as 5%, triggering its sidecar mechanism, which temporarily halts trading, according to an official note. Index heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics were down 6.66% and 5.55%, respectively.

The small-cap Kosdaq lost 4.45%.

Asia-Pacific markets fell Monday as investors assessed private data for China’s factory activity in January, while gold extended losses from Friday.

China’s factory activity gathered speed in January, according to a private survey released Monday, as manufacturers accelerated production and loaded cargoes ahead of the extended Lunar New Year holiday.

The RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI, conducted by S&P Global, rose to 50.3 in January from 50.1 the previous month, in line with analysts’ expectations of 50.3 in a Reuters poll. A reading above the 50 benchmark indicates an expansion, while one below that suggests contraction.

That marked the strongest level since October, when the private-surveyed PMI came in at 50.6.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.13%, while the Topix added 0.52%.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index declined 1.64%, while the mainland CSI 300 is down 0.68%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1%.

Gold and silver are in focus after Friday’s sharp declines. Spot gold was trading 5% lower at $4,612 per ounce, while silver slid around 4% to $81.189 per ounce.

Silver prices, which had more than doubled over the past 12 months, plunged around 30% last Friday, marking the metal’s worst one-day performance since 1980. Gold also dropped around 9%.

Futures tied to the main U.S. benchmarks fell during early Asia hours as Wall Street begins a new month of trading, with traders keeping an eye on bitcoin after a weekend sell-off.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 143 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.6%, while Nasdaq-100 futures shed nearly 1%.

Bitcoin dropped below $80,000 for the first time since April, a sign investors were taking more risk off the table following the sharp declines in gold and silver.

Bitcoin last traded around $76,700.

Last Friday, U.S. stocks retreated as technology shares remained in a funk, even as investors largely approved of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve.

Still, the S&P 500 squeaked out a January gain, despite Friday’s losses and volatile trading this month. The broad index fell 0.43% to finish at 6,939.03, its third straight down day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 0.36%, to settle at 48,892.47. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite underperformed, dropping 0.94%, to end the day at 23,461.82. All three indexes fell more than 1% at session lows.

— CNBC’s Anniek Bao, Fred Imbert, Alex Harring, Lisa Kailai Han and Pia Singh contributed to this report.