Asia-Pacific markets fell across the board as investors assessed a slew of economic data from across the region.
South Korea's overall inflation rate in November fell to 3.3%, compared with 3.7% expected by a Reuters poll.
The inflation rate for Japan's capital, Tokyo, came in at 2.6%, down from the 3.3% in October. Tokyo's inflation figures are widely considered to be a leading indicator of national trends.
Caixin and S&P Global also released China's service purchasing managers' index today, which hit a three-month high, while private PMI readings will also be out from Hong Kong and India.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 2.07% in its final hour to its lowest since November 2022, leading losses in Asia, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 index fell 1.9% and closed at 3,394.26, hitting fresh four-year lows.
Japan's Nikkei 225 ended down 1.37% at 32,775.82, while the Topix fell 0.84% to 2,342.69.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.89% to close at 7,061.60 as the Reserve Bank of Australia held its benchmark policy rate at 4.35%, in line with expectations.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.82% to close at 2,494.28, and the small-cap Kosdaq lost 1.83% to close at 813.38.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes lost ground as investors took a breather following five straight winning weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.11%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.54%. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.84% as investors sold Big Tech shares, which have led the market's gains this year.
As stocks stagnated, bitcoin and gold rallied to start the week. Bitcoin passed the $41,000 mark to notch a 19-month high, while gold reached its highest nominal intraday level ever.
— CNBC's Yun Li and Alex Harring contributed to this report.