Asian stock markets lost ground in early trading Monday following Friday’s regional bounce that eased last week’s pain. Japan’s Nikkei fell more than 1% following its worst week in right months, while indexes in Hong Kong and Taiwan also dropped more than 1%.

Defensive stocks were down early in Japan. Near session lows in the early going, the Nikkei NIK, -1.36% was last down 1.3%. The financial sector was hit particularly hard, with Mitsubishi UFJ 8306, -1.90% and Mizuho Financial 8411, -1.50% down around 2%. Sharp losses were also felt by Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing 9983, -4.39% and electronics giant Sharp 6753, -1.88% . SoftBank 9984, -5.37% tumbled more than 5% over worries about its close investment ties to the Saudi government in the wake of a journalist’s disappearance. That came as the yen USDJPY, -0.06% was near session highs, with the dollar easing to ¥112.16 from about ¥112.25 earlier.

Hong Kong stocks also slid following Friday’s bounce. The Hang Seng HSI, -0.79% was off about 1%, led by tech declines. Tencent 0700, -1.87% dropped 2.5% and smartphone-component maker AAC Tech 2018, -3.47% fell more than 4%.

Markets in mainland China were mixed, with the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -0.21% down 0.3% but the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, +0.55% up 0.4%.

Tech stocks also weighed in Taiwan’s Taiex Y9999, -1.35% , as Taiwan Semiconductor 2330, -2.53% declined more than 2%. South Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.35% was down 0.3%, with index heavyweights Samsung 005930, -0.68% and SK Hynix 000660, -2.21% sinking.

Australia’s ASX 200 XJO, -1.08% was down more than 1%, with financials and materials dragging down the market. Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA, -1.85% , Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ, -1.85% and Westpac Banking WBC, -1.36% were all down more than 1%, while mining giants Rio Tinto RIO, -1.06% and BHP Billiton BHP, -1.42% fell around 1.5%. New Zealand’s benchmark NZ50GR, +0.08% was about flat after its worst week in 8½ years.