Asian stock markets gave up further ground on Friday, extending their losses for the week, after getting only a brief bump from data showing a pickup in China’s industrial production.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 79.55 points, or 0.9%, to mark its lowest closing level since Oct. 16., and end the week at 8,757.60
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index collapsed another 182.53 points, or 0.9%, to 21,384.38, bringing its loss for the week to 3.3%
Some strength for the Japanese currency after Tuesday’s U.S. election — with the dollar moving to the lower ¥79 range after trading above ¥80 earlier in the week — helped damp enthusiasm for Tokyo-listed exporters.
Many Tokyo-listed blue-chip exporters added to their recent losses in Friday session. Fujitsu Ltd. dropped 3.2%, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. retreated 1.5%, and NEC Corp. gave up 7.2%.
Trend Micro Inc. 4.5% after reporting third-quarter results.
Sony Corp. gave up 0.9%, and Nintendo Co. 2.2% lower, after data showed a 25% fall in October videogame sales in the U.S. and a 37% drop for gaming hardware.
The newly merged Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. lost 1.8% after reporting ahead of that close that it swung to a fiscal-first-half loss of ¥176.7 billion ($2.2 billion U.S.) due to massive writeoffs of production facilities.
Still, the share drop was less than the 2.2% fall for rival JFE Holdings Inc.
In Korea, steel and technology firms also weakened, with steel giant Posco dropping 1.5%, while chip maker SK Hynix Inc. 2.5%.
Banks and energy companies were among the worst performers by sector in Australia, with National Australia Bank Ltd. losing 4.3% on an unadjusted basis after the firm started to trade without rights to its latest dividend payout.
Origin Energy Ltd. dropped 5.7% in the energy sector after the firm warned that its underlying fiscal-year profit could fall as much as 10%.
Shares of China Telecom Corp. rose 0.2% after its chairman said he expects to begin offering Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5 in late November or early December.
Rivals China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. and China Mobile Ltd. fell 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively.
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. dropped 5.6% in Hong Kong after warning late Thursday that it would likely report a first-half profit drop.
In other upbeat developments, well-received earnings from Japan’s Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. sent its shares rallying 4.2%.
Hong Kong-listed Lenovo Group Ltd. added 5.8% to gains after its own results out Thursday showed solid personal-computer sales despite a slump for the PC sector.
CHINA
Markets in China and Hong Kong got a temporary lift from economic data releases, which pointed to the mainland economy stabilizing. But the effect proved fleeting.
The Shanghai CSI 300 Composite Index shed 4.48 points, or 0.2%, to 2,240.92
Numbers released just after the Shanghai and Hong Kong market opens showed China’s consumer-price inflation cooled to a 33-month low in October, with the data likely to give policy makers scope for new rounds of easing measures.
Afternoon data from China were also positive, as industrial output showed an expectations-beating pickup, while retail sales and fixed-asset investment also came in slightly ahead of forecasts.
The economic news came as China’s ruling party is currently in the midst of a week-long conference to facilitate once-a-decade leadership changes. Economists called Friday’s numbers "a lovely dataset to welcome in China’s new set of leaders."
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gave back 2.69 points, or 0.1%, to 3,009.56
Korea’s Kospi index slid 10 points, or 0.5%, to 1,904.41
Taiwan’s Taiex Index gained 50.59 points, or 0.7%, to 7,293.22
New Zealand’s NZX 50 added 2.67 points, or 0.1%, to 3,957.92
Australia’s ASX Index 21.80 points, or 0.5%, to 4,462.02
