Hong Kong stocks dropped for a sixth straight session to lead some major Asian markets lower Thursday as China’s export and import figures disappointed and European debt worries remained in focus.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slid 35.41 points, or 0.4%, to 9,009.65
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong subtracted 103.36 points, or 0.5%, to 20,227.28
Most Asian markets began the day on a weak note after the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its sixth straight fall overnight, driven by Greece’s political impasse and new concerns about the funding of Spanish banks.
Financial stocks were particularly weak.
Index heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC shed 0.7% in Hong Kong, while China Construction Bank Corp. gave up 0.5% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. dropped 0.8% in Tokyo and KB Financial Group Inc. lost 0.8% in Seoul, while Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. gave up 1.4% in Sydney despite a higher finish for the broader market.
In the energy sector, Cnooc Ltd. dropped 0.9% and PetroChina Co. lost 2.1%, after crude-oil futures closed lower for a sixth day in New York trading overnight, and also declined in electronic trading.
Investors in Tokyo offered a mixed reaction to a batch of earnings-related news.
Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. climbed 0.8% after Japan’s largest auto maker said it expects profit for the current fiscal year to more than double.
On the downside, tire maker Bridgestone Corp lost 1.8% after posting earnings that included a 35% gain in quarterly profit but no change to its outlook for the year.
Shares of Panasonic Corp. slipped 1.4%, finding little support from a Nikkei report the electronics major and trading house Itochu Corp. plan to merge their mobile-phone sales units to create Japan’s third-biggest handset firm. Itochu dropped 0.8%.
Stock in Tokyo Electric Power Co. rallied 6.5% after the government approved plans to temporarily nationalize the debt-ridden utility
CHINA
China reported a 4.9% increase in April exports from the year-earlier period, while imports grew just 0.3%, according to data released Thursday. Both figures were well below expectations.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Composite Index docked 0.30 points to 2,657.21
In other markets;
Singapore's Straits Times Index added 2.69 points, or 0.1%, to 2,903.60
Korea’s Kospi Index lost 5.36 points, or 0.3%, to 1,944.93
Taiwan’s Taiex Index was in the green 8.30 points, or 0.1%, to 7,484.01
New Zealand’s NXZ Index gained 9.58 points, or 0.3%, to 3,569.05
Australia’s ASX Index took on 20.47 points, or 0.5%, to 4,295.55
