Asian shares flat

Asian markets started the week largely unchanged on Monday with thin volumes, while Tokyo was closed for a public holiday. Australia's ASX 200 index was trading flat at 5,669.7 points, while South Korea's benchmark Kospi index was up 0.1% to 2,080 points. Weaker commodity prices weighed on Australian resource shares, with mining heavyweight BHP Billiton down 1.1%. Gold fell to a five-year low and copper ended down more than 1% last Friday. Chinese shares opened lower despite data over the weekend showing that home prices rose for a second consecutive month in June. Average new home prices rose 0.4% from May, when they were up 0.2% and marked the first monthly increase since April last year. The Shanghai Composite was flat at 3,954.87, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was also becalmed at 25,402.1, according to BBC.