The Australian and New Zealand dollars slipped against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Monday, as China service sector growth slowed in February and as Asian shares fell amid fears of a global trade war and Italian elections showing a hung parliament.

The latest survey from Caixin showed that China services sector continued to expand in February, albeit at a slightly slower pace, with a services PMI score of 54.2.

That's down from 54.7 in January, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Italian elections pointed to a hung parliament, as the results showed no outright winner.

Exit polls showed that ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing coalition was likely to win most of votes, but short of the requisite 40 percent required to form a government.

China's National People's Congress meeting kicked off in Beijing, with Premier Li Keqiang announcing a boost to military spending by 1.1 trillion yuan.

Li Keqiang has also set the growth target at 'around 6.5 percent' for 2018. This was unchanged from the last year's target.

In economic news, the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group revealed that the service sector in Australia continued to expand in February, albeit at a slower pace, with a Performance of Service Index score of 54.0. That's down from 54.9, although it remains well above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the total number of building approvals issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 17.1 percent on month in January, coming in at 19,851. That topped expectations for an increase of 5.0 percent following the 0.2 percent gain in December.

The latest survey from TD Securities and the Melbourne Institute revealed that consumer prices in Australia are predicted to slow in February, with prices expected to ease 0.1 percent on month. That follows the 0.3 percent monthly increase in January.

The aussie dropped to 0.7740 against the greenback, 81.64 against the yen and 0.9986 against the loonie, off its early highs of 0.7770, 82.07 and 1.0010, respectively. The aussie is likely to find support around 0.75 against the greenback, 78.00 against the yen and 0.97 against the loonie.

The aussie slid to more than a 2-year low of 1.5923 against the euro at the commencement of today's session and held steady thereafter. The aussie is seen finding support around the 1.61 mark.

The kiwi weakened to 4-day lows of 0.7206 against the greenback and 1.0743 against the aussie, from Friday's closing values of 0.7240 and 1.0715, respectively. On the downside, 0.70 and 1.09 are seen as the next support levels for the kiwi against the greenback and the aussie, respectively.

The kiwi that ended last week's deals at 76.52 against the yen and 1.7003 against the euro slipped to near an 11-month low of 76.03 and a 4-week low of 1.7097, respectively. If the kiwi drops further, it may find support around 75.00 against the yen and 1.72 against the euro.

Looking ahead, PMIs from major European economies, Eurozone retail sales for January and Sentix investor confidence for March are due in the European session.

In the New York session, Markit's U.S. services PMI and ISM non-manufacturing composite index for February are scheduled for release.

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