Key Asian markets ended mixed, on Monday. So Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6 percent; and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.3 percent. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.7 percent; China's Shanghai Composite index declined 0.5 percent; and Singapore's Straits Times ended flat.In the European markets, the UK's FTSE-100 had declined 0.1 percent, and Germany's DAX and France's CAC-40 had lost 0.4 percent, each in intra-day trade.In economic news, German business confidence dropped for a sixth month as the specter of a recession haunts Europe's largest economy. The Ifo institute's business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, dropped to 103.2 in October from 104.7 in September, lowest since December 2012.