Hong Kong led a drop for Asia stocks on Thursday, in the second day of notable losses for Chinese corporations, as investors grappled with a slew of earnings reports and concerns about a global growth slowdown.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index dropped 67.78 points, or 0.7%, to 10,114.80 Thursday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell back 276.03 points, or 1.3%, to 20,609.40
Commodity-trading houses were under pressure in Japan, with Mitsui & Co. falling 3.3%, and Mitsubishi Corp. losing 2.8%.
In Sydney, copper and gold extractor PanAust Ltd., down 4.8%; and diversified mineral giant BHP Billiton Ltd., down 1%.
In Hong Kong, Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. fell 1.3%, and PetroChina Ltd. dropped 2%.
Oil giant Cnooc Ltd. lost 3.3% after the firm said late Wednesday that its fiscal-year net profit rose 29% to $11.2 billion, a figure that slightly exceeded analysts forecasts. However, the company also set a conservative production output target for this year.
In other Chinese earnings news, China Shipping Container Lines Co. fell 2% in Hong Kong after it swung to a 2011 net loss of $428 million due to rising fuel costs.
Port operator China Merchants Holdings International Co. fell 2.7% in Hong Kong after its own annual net profit slipped 5.3%, weighed down by higher costs.
Still, Bank of Communications Co. managed to rise 0.7% after posting an above-forecast 30% rise in annual profit, even as it cut its dividend in half.
China Merchants Bank Co. only fell slightly, slipping 0.3% in Hong Kong after the lender’s 40% jump in annual net profit met analysts forecasts.
Japanese technology stocks were losing ground after a weaker-than-expected outlook from U.S. technology firm Applied Materials Inc. sent the U.S. Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 1.3% on Wednesday.
Advantest Corp. fell 3%, and Kyocera Corp. shed 1.9%.
A drop below the 83-yen mark overnight for the U.S. dollar also dragged broadly on exporters, with Sony Corp. lower by 1.5%.
On the plus side, Sharp Corp. jumped 6.7% after trading bid-only in the previous session following news of an investment in the firm from Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.
Shares of Hon Hai gained 2.7% in Taipei.
In other markets;
The Shanghai CSI 300 faded 31.78 points, or 1.3%, to 2,443.12
Korea’s Kospi Index demurred 17.33 points, or 0.9%, to 2,014.41
The Taiex index in Taiwan collapsed 165.41 points, or 2.1%, to 7,872.66
Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 21.89 points, or 0.7%, to 2,994.09
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 8.93 points, or 0.3%, to 3,495.44
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index subtracted 5.61 points, or 0.1%, to 4,337.90
