Most of the major Asian markets fell Tuesday, with stocks in Hong Kong and Tokyo hit particularly hard as Europe’s political troubles forced their way back into investor focus.
The Nikkei 225 index dropped 213.43 points, or 1.9%, to 11,046.92
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong suffered its worst one-day percentage loss of the year, collapsing 536.48 points, or 2.3%, to 23,148.53
The Hong Kong market suffered particularly heavy selling, with heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC — which has a major presence in Europe — down 2.7% amid the concerns over Italy and Spain.
Among other Hong Kong movers, shares of Sinopec — formally known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. — skidded 6.4% on fears of equity dilution after announcing a $3.1-billion U.S. private share placement.
Recent gainers in the consumer, property and financial sectors also suffered losses, with Bank of China Ltd. lower by 3.8%, and Henderson Land Development Co. dropping 3.9%.
Japanese exporters were also weaker after a recent advance, with Mazda Motor Corp. dropping 3.2%. The stock is still up more than 10% so far in February.
Sharp Corp. fell 3.5%, while Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. lost 3.6%.
Heavyweight retailer Fast Retailing Co. retreated 3.2% after reporting a 5.5% drop in same-store sales at its Uniqlo casual-clothing store chain.
Fujitsu Ltd. retreated 3.8% after a Nikkei newspaper report that the firm will post a fiscal-year net loss of almost ¥100 billion ($1.1 billion U.S.), hurt by costs relating to its semiconductor business.
Hitachi Ltd. tumbled 6.4% as investors reacted to a lower fiscal-year outlook from the conglomerate and a 38% drop in quarterly net profit, which missed analysts’ expectations.
In Australian trading, hearing-aid company Cochlear Ltd. tumbled 9.3%, retracing recent gains, after the firm said it returned to a profit in its fiscal first half, but at a lower level than analysts had expected.
Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decided to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3%, as widely expected.
The South Korean market saw sizeable losses for tech firms, with heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co. slipping 0.1% and chip maker SK Hynix Inc. dropping 2.5%
CHINA
Banks also fell sharply on mainland Chinese bourses to give back recent gains.
The Shanghai CSI 300 actually gained, however, 23.65 points, or 0.9%, to 2,771.68
Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. fell 1.2%, China Citic Bank Corp. dropped 2.7% and China Construction Bank Corp. shed 1.4%.
In other markets,
The Singapore Straits Times Index fell 24.71 points, or 0.8%, to 3,272.66
In Korea, the Kospi index retreated 15.03 points, or 0.8%, to 1,938.18
Taiwan’s Taiex index dipped 36.22 points, or 0.5%, to 7,886.94
New Zealand’s NZX 50 was off 34.46 points, or 0.8%, to 4,211.95
Australia’s ASX 200 fell 24.80 points, or 0.5%, to 4,888.72
