Shanghai Composite drops 1.5 percent as industrial profits growth slowed for a fifth month

• Chinese stocks are flashing red, ignoring gains in other Asian indices.
• China industrial profits growth slowed for a fifth straight month in September.

Chinese stocks are flashing red Monday as data released over the weekend showed a slowdown in the domestic demand in the world's second-biggest economy.

At press time, the Shanghai Composite index is down 38 points or 1.47 percent at 2,560.

Industrial profits rose 4.1 percent in September from a year earlier to CNY 545.5 billion ($78.57 billion), the National Statistics Bureau (NBS) said on Saturday. That was the weakest pace since February 2016.

The details of the report show sales of raw materials and manufactured goods declined, pointing to slowing domestic demand in the world's second-biggest economy, according to Reuters.