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Chinese shares turned tail at the close to break a six-day rally, ending down 1.3% after manufacturing activity was reported at a 15-month low.

The Shanghai Composite lost 53.01 points - 1.29% to 4,070.91 points, although Over the week it was still 2.9% higher.

The preliminary reading of Caixin's Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) came in at 48.2 for this month.

A reading of below 50 indicates contraction.

Down, down

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped by 0.9% to 25,172.03 points.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 0.7% down at 20,544.53 points.

Investors were trading on news of the International Monetary Fund warning that Japan needed to "reload Abenomics" to continue its economic recovery.

The market failed to pick up on the same flash PMI reading which in the case of Japan showed a strong seasonally adjusted 51.4 in July.

In Seoul, the Kospi index finished lower by 0.9% to 2,045.96, weighed down by weak economic data and poor earnings results.

Car giant Hyundai said its net profit slumped 24%.

Despite the Korean Won being at a three-year low against the US dollar, many exporters failed to capitalise on that relative advantage.

In Australia, weaker metals and oil prices continue to dampen investor sentiment, pulling the ASX/200 0.4% down to a 5,566.10 finish.

The country's fastest growing iron ore miner, Fortescue, was the first of the big mining giants to stop further output expansion, saying steel production in China had peaked.

Fortescue shares were up 1.2% while most other Australian miners closed in negative territory.