As the US lawmakers struggled to end the government's partial shutdown, Australian and New Zealand stocks fell, said a report from Reuters.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen by 0.2% and New Zealand's NZX 50 Index had decreased 0.2% as of 10:03 a.m. in Sydney.  

The US borrowing authority was set to lapse by October 17 according to the Treasury Department. This made Senate leaders in Washington sought an agreement to avert default and reopen the government. On the other hand, Chinese exports unexpectedly fell in September according to an October 12 data.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 1.3% last week. This was in hopes that US lawmakers would move closer to an agreement to end the US shutdown and resolve the debt impasse. The gauge traded at 13.6% times estimated earnings last October 11, said a report from Bloomberg. This was comparable with the 15.4% for the S&P 500.