Asia-Pacific markets decline on Monday, taking cues from a negative lead on Wall Street, as investors prepared for new US tariffs this week. Meanwhile, investors assess data showing China’s manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest pace in a year in March,

Japan’s benchmark Topix dropped 3.2 per cent and the exporter-oriented Nikkei 225 slid 3.9 per cent. In South Korea the Kospi fell 2.2 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.4 per cent. Gold hit a record $3,098 per troy ounce while US Treasury yields declined, in a sign that investors were piling into safe assets.

By Ankur Banerjee SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Asian stocks slid on Friday with heavy selling in South Korea and Japan while safe-haven gold was perched at a record high as the latest tariff salvo from U.S. President Donald Trump stoked investor worries of an all-out trade war.