Chinese markets tumbled at the open Monday, but other markets in Asia were mixed by mid-morning, with Japan extending its gains from the previous week. Analysts expect some rocky trading this week amid a deluge of economic data in the region.

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Chinese markets opened in negative territory, with the main Shanghai composite down 4.07 percent while the Shenzhen composite slipped 5.7 percent.

"Markets look set for a volatile week as a raft of data releases globally set markets up for a dramatic reweighting of growth expectations," wrote Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at IG, in his morning note.

The Japanese benchmark index, Nikkei 225, was up 0.4 percent, after earlier trading up as much as 1.5 percent. Last week, the index added about 1.39 percent. Early movers on the index included Sharp.

Shares of the troubled Japanese electronics maker were down as much as 4.55 percent in early trade before retracing some of the losses to trade down 3.79 percent. Its shares have fallen 26 percent between February 23 and February 26. Sharp shares fell after its takeover deal from Taiwan's Foxconn, which was announced last Thursday, was put on a hold. The latter said it would not sign the deal until Sharp clarified previously undisclosed contingent liabilities, reported Reuters.

On Monday, Sharp said there was no deadline for finalizing a deal, following a report over the weekend from the Nikkei setting March 7 as the timeline for an agreement.

Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi was up 0.25 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.59 percent.

Australian's S&P/ASX 200's was up 0.72 percent in afternoon trade, with most sectors gaining. The heavily-weighted financials sector was up 0.72 percent, while the gold sector fell 2.10 percent.

Despite expected gains in shares Monday, analysts also believe risk appetite remain "exceptionally weak" as more investors have turned to safe-haven assets in recent weeks. Vishnu Varathan from Mizuho Bank wrote in a morning note, "U.S. 10-year bond yields dropping below 1.8 percent and sharp gains in safe-haven Japanese yen and gold prove this point."

Economic data due this week include Japan's industrial production numbers on Monday, Australia's fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) and Chinese factory activity data. Japan's January retail sales data are also due today.

In Asian hours, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for April delivery erased losses of over 0.4 percent to trade up 0.15 percent at USD 32.83 a barrel; US crude futures gained about 3 percent last week.

Global benchmark Brent gained about 0.8 percent to USD 35.38 a barrel as of 9.47 a.m. HK/SIN time; it added about 6.33 percent last week.

Energy plays were mixed in Asia, with Santos up by 0.78 percent, Woodside Petroleum losing 0.7 percent and Inpex trading flat. Chinese mainland energy plays were mostly lower, with China Oilfield shedding 4.08 percent.

"Global crude prices are convulsing (albeit at rather low levels) amid 'on-off' hopes of global oil production cuts. This adds yet another layer of volatility to an already bifurcated global market," Varathan added in his note.

In the currency market, the yen maintained its strength against the dollar at the 113 handle, with the pair trading down 0.54 percent at 113.38 as of 9.50 a.m. HK/SIN.

The Chinese yuan was marginally weaker against the dollar, with the pair up 0.13 percent at 6.5478. The People's Bank of China set Monday's yuan mid-point at 6.5452.

Stateside on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.34 percent, while the S&P 500 ended lower by 0.19 percent. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.18 percent.

First Published:Feb 29, 2016 7:38 AM IST