Stock markets sagged across much of the Asia-Pacific region on Monday, unnerved by news over the weekend that the US lender CIT Group had filed for bankruptcy, and following a dismal showing on Wall Street on Friday.

Upbeat economic news from China, South Korea and Australia did little to lift the mood in most of the region as investors focused instead on the fact that the US recovery remains feeble — a fact that was hammered home by weak US consumer spending data Friday.

The losses in Asia on Monday were not as pronounced as those on Wall Street on Friday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.5 per cent, its sharpest sell-off since July. Many markets recovered some or all of their early losses during the session, while Europe’s most important exchanges started the day with modest rises, of around 0.4 per cent.

By the end of the session, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan were all down less than 1 per cent. South Korea shed 1.4 per cent, while Australia’s key index ignored news that the government had upgraded its growth forecast for the country, falling 2.2 per cent.

The biggest declines were seen in Japan, where the Nikkei 255 index dropped 2.3 per cent to a three-week low. A persistently feeble economic backdrop has been compounded by a strong yen, which weighs on the country’s export powerhouses by making their goods more expensive for customers in the United States and Europe.

The consumer electronics giants Sony and Canon fell 5.8 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively. Nissan Motor dropped 3.3 per cent, Honda fell 2.1 per cent, and Toyota lost 2.5 per cent.

The region’s outperformer on Monday was mainland China, where the Shanghai composite index reversed early losses to close up 2.7 per cent.

Except for Japan, most of Asia is now in robust economic shape, and China is leading the way with growth widely expected to top 8 per cent this year.

Fresh data from China confirmed that strength: Two purchasing managers’ indexes released over the weekend and on Monday showed the recovery picking up speed in October.

Elsewhere, trade data from South Korea showed exports in October still down 8.3 per cent from a year ago, but the decline was less than expected.

And in Australia, the central bank is widely expected to nudge interest rates higher by at least a quarter of a percentage point on Tuesday as the economy picks up speed.

The government revised its economic growth forecast on Monday to 1.5 per cent for the year that ends in June 2010, up from a 0.5 per cent contraction it had predicted in May.

Still, US consumer spending data released on Friday, which showed a 0.5 per cent drop in September, revealed that American shoppers, concerned about their job prospects, remain reluctant to open their wallets — bad news for Asia’s export-dependent economies.

Combined with the CIT Group insolvency that served as a reminder that the US economy and financial system remain under considerable pressure, analysts said.

‘‘CIT filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is the culmination of difficulties for the lender that investors would have been well aware of. Still, it will at least refocus attention on underlying economic challenges and underpin risk unwinding trades,’’ Patrick Bennett, a strategist at Société Générale in Hong Kong, said in a note.