Cyprus concerns rattle Asian markets Monday 03:30 GMT. Asian shares dropped amid renewed concerns about Europe's debt crisis after Cyprus imposed an unprecedented tax on bank deposits to fund a bailout. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 1.9 per cent, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 1.4 per cent and South Korea's Kospi Composite index lost 0.4 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.6 per cent and the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.4 per cent. "The week has started with a clear rise in risk aversion, following the surprise weekend decision in Brussels to slug all depositors in Cypriot banks with a levy in order to approve €10bn in bailout funds," Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac, said in a research note. Investors fretted about the potential implications of the decision to impose a levy on private bank deposits in Cyprus. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades bowed to demands by eurozone finance ministers that Cypriots pay a one-time tax of 9.9 per cent of their deposits to help fund a €10bn bailout. The unprecedented move, if approved, would be the first time savers have to foot part of a bailout. That could prompt concern about the safety of bank deposits in the eurozone. The proposal will be put to a vote in Cyprus" parliament later in the day. Morgan Stanley recommended selling high-beta banks, saying the introduction of the levy "seems to have broken another taboo." Strategists at the bank said that "investors should expect material market weakness in the near term," questioning whether "senior bank debt is the next taboo to be broken, given the linkage with deposits." In Tokyo, the yen was firmer at Y94.61 per US dollar on higher haven demand, compared with Y95.25 in New York late Friday. Against the euro the Japanese currency was trading at Y121.58 from Y124.93. The euro touched a three-week low of $1.2902. The firmer yen weighed on Japanese exporters with Toyota Motor, the world's largest automaker by sales, sliding 2.3 per cent and semiconductor company Tokyo Electron falling 5 per cent. Honda Motor shed 2.7 per cent. In Hong Kong, HSBC, Europe's biggest bank by market value, dropped 2.3 per cent, also hit by concerns over the banking giant's plans to cut thousands more jobs. In Shanghai, brokerages lost ground after Bank of China chairman Xiao Gang was appointed to replace Guo Shuqing as the head of China's securities regulator. Mr Guo has been a strong advocate of financial market reform. Bank of China slipped 0.3 per cent while Haitong Securities fell 2.8 per cent and Citic Securities lost 2.3 per cent. Miners were the worst performers on the Sydney market with Rio Tinto off 2 per cent and BHP Billiton down 1.9 per cent on lower metal prices. In commodities markets, gold futures gained $3.20 to $1,595.70 an ounce as risk appetite waned, while copper fell 7 cents to $3.45 a pound.