Asia markets suffered a selldown Wednesday, with Chinese stocks falling to their lowest level since January 2009 and Japanese shares tumbling as many firms began to trade without rights to their latest dividend payouts.
The Nikkei 225 Index tanked 184.84 points, or 2%, to 8,906.70
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong shed 170.95 points, or 0.8%, to 20,527.73
The performance in Asia followed a downbeat session in the U.S., as criticism from a non-voting Federal Reserve member about the central bank’s latest round of monetary easing overshadowed solid economic data.
Investors in Asia were also monitoring developments in an ongoing territorial dispute between China and Japan, following reports Bejiing had rejected Tokyo’s invitation for talks at this week’s United Nations General Assembly.
In Tokyo, shares were pressured as several major names traded ex-dividend.
Among those losing ground, Advantest Corp. fell 4.7%, Nikon Corp. dropped 1.8% and Fanuc Corp. declined 3%.
Honda Motor Co. dropped 4.9% after Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the stock to hold from buy.
Rival auto makers also fell. The Nikkei reported that Toyota Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. will reduce production in China as escalating anti-Japan sentiment was hurting sales.
Toyota shares fell 2.7%, while Nissan lost 2.6%.
A stronger yen provided another headwind for Japanese exporters. Canon Inc. sank 4.5% and Casio Computer Co. dropped 2.9%.
Shares of Sharp Corp. ended unchanged, ending the session unchanged, after the Nikkei reported lenders were expected to approve funding that will enable the firm to stay afloat through the current fiscal year.
In Hong Kong, financial firms were among the main drags. Major index component HSBC Holdings PLC dropped 1.4% and China Life Insurance Co. retreated 2.2%.
Automakers were other notable decliners, as BDY Co. took a 9.8% dive, and Dongfeng Motor Group Co. gave up 3.7%.
Shares of fashion retailer Esprit Holdings Ltd. surrendered 6.9% as investors reacted to the firm’s fiscal-year earnings.
Losses for resource shares weighed across Asia as growth concerns cast doubt on future demand for commodities.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. and China Coal Energy Ltd. fell 2.8% and 2.7%, respectively. In Shanghai, they fell 1.9% and 1%, respectively.
Miners extended losses in Sydney as commodity futures mostly fell in electronic trading.
Diversified miners BHP Billiton Ltd. and rival Rio Tinto Ltd. gave up 1.3% and 2%, respectively.
Lynas Corp. tumbled 5% as the rare earths miner said it was forced to renegotiate its debt covenants as protests delayed the start of its Malaysian processing plant.
The losses came as the world’s third largest coal producer Anglo American PLC said it plans to cut coking coal output in response to weak prices and increased costs.
In other markets
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index fell 25.26 points, or 1.1%, to 2,184.89
Korea’s Kospi index dropped 10.97 points, or 0.6%, to 1,980.44
The Singapore Straits Times Index stumbled 20.45 points, or 0.7%, to 3,046.68
Taiwan’s Taiex Index doffed 64.50 points, or 0.8%, to 7,669.63
New Zealand’s NZX index dipped 15.99 points, or 0.4%, to 3,809.32
Australia’s ASX Index lost 11.62 points, or 0.3%, to 4,361.60
