Chinese shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen tumbled Tuesday as worries that the country's economy may be slowing hit steelmakers such as Angang Steel Co., while shares of China Vanke slumped after the property developer lowered its construction outlook for the second half of the year.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 18.52 points or 0.1% at 12,914.66 while the benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 565.17 points or 2.55 to finish at 21,949.75, off a low of 21,739.22.
Among exporters, Sony climbed 1.5%, Toyota Motor gained 0.9% and Canon rose 1.0%. Other gainers included Takeda Pharmaceutical 1.9%, Tokyo Electric Power 0.3%, Nippon Paper Holdings 12.9% and Bridgestone 3.5%.
Steel and trading companies lost ground. Nippon Steel lost 4.9%, JFE Holdings tumbled 7.2%, Sumitomo Corp. plummeted 3.8% and Mitsubishi Corp fell 1.7%. Oil & gas miner Inpex Holdings lost 4.0% after crude oil prices fell overnight.
Banks recovered over the course of the trading session. Mitsubishi UFJ rose 1.6%, Mizuho Financial advanced 0.6% and Sumitomo Mitsui gained 1.0%. Top broker Nomura Holdings climbed 0.5%.
In the tech sector, Advantest and Kyocera rose 2.3% each, Tokyo Electron jumped 3.4% and Fanuc gained 1.3%, Fujitsu added 0.1% and Matsushita Electrical Industrial moved up 1.1%. NEC slipped 0.2%.
Orix gained 2.6% and Credit Saison jumped 11.2% after the Nikkei newspaper reported that the two companies will merge by autumn 2009. Seven & I Holdings advanced 3.2% and Ain Pharmaciez surged 15.15 following a report that the retail group will form a partnership with the largest pharmacy chain in Japan.
The Chinese market closed lower, led by real estate developers and metal producers. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index closed down 50.99 points or 1.86% at 2,690.75.
Property developers fell after China Vanke reduced its forecast for new construction by 1.65 million square meters. China Vanke plunged 6.3%, Poly Real Estate Group plummeted 7.1% and Gemdale lost 4.8%.
Among metals producers, Zhongjin Gold lost 6.7%, Shandong Gold slumped 9.5%, Jiangxi Copper shed 6.6% and Baoshan Iron & Steel dropped 4.4%.
Citic Securities fell 0.7% and Hong Yuan Securities plunged 3.3%. In the banking space, Pudong Bank closed down 0.2%, reversing early gains, and Shenzhen-based China Merchants Bank declined 2.3%.
Shanghai Securities News reported that China's central bank has agreed to increase loan quotas of commercial banks by as much as 10% to help ease financing difficulties among small- and medium-sized companies.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed down 2.4% at 6,813.
Singapore's STI closed down 0.5% at 2860.
Malaysia's KLCI closed down 1.7% at 1,128.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index closed down 1.9% at 2,185.
India's Sensex closed up 2.6% at 14,961.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.5%.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index declined 0.7%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended down 1.4% at 4,820.40.
with files from other wire services
