Asian stock markets posted widespread declines in early trading Tuesday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -2.73%^[1]   was in catchup mode after Monday’s holiday and indexes fell around 3%. China Construction Bank 0939, -3.59%^[2]  , Ping An Insurance 2318, -3.67%^[3]   and oil giant CNOOC 0883, -3.69%^[4]   were all down more than 4%, while shipping company Orient Overseas 0316, +1.57%^[5]   jumped after its $6.3 billion acquisition by China’s Cosco 600428, -0.58%^[6]  .

Meanwhile, Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.61%^[7]   remained in positive territory most of the morning, while Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -0.84%^[8]   struggled to remain above water and entered the midday break down 0.03%.

Standing out was New Zealand, which barely dropped Monday. The NZX 50 NZ50GR, +1.13%^[9]   was up 1% and looking to set a record closing high. Australia XJO, +0.51%^[10]  , too, saw gains.

In China, the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -1.27%^[11]   sank after initial gains, a day after touching two-year lows, while the Shenzhen Composite 399106, -1.35%^[12]   continued to drop....