Asian stocks fell in an earnings-heavy session Friday, handing the Nikkei Stock Average its biggest percentage loss since early August.
The Nikkei 225 index in Japan plummeted 398.22 points, or 2.8%, to 14,088.19
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 133.48 points, or 0.6%, to 22,698.34
A selloff in shares of heavily-weighted SoftBank and Canon dominated trade in Tokyo. The Japanese yen also maintained its strength, last trading at ¥97.01 to the dollar
Canon fell 1.6% after it lowered its full-year net profit forecast to ¥240 billion from a previous estimate of ¥260 billion set in July.
Earnings also loomed over trade in Seoul, where the Kospi benchmark fell 0.6%. LG Electronics dropped 3.4% after it reported a 34% decline in its third-quarter net profit.
Australia edged higher, however. Sydney’s steady gains over the week made it one of the best performers, up 1.2% since last Friday, as the market hit a fresh five-year high. Sydney welcomed fresh signs of economic growth in China, its major trading partner.
At the end of last week, Chinese growth numbers showed a pickup in the region’s largest economy in the third quarter, and on Thursday, preliminary data on Chinese manufacturing reached a seven-month high.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 dipped 31.95 points, or 1.3%, to 2,368.56
Markets within China were focused on a sharp rise in money-market rates, which brought back memories of a liquidity crisis in June. In addition, another increase in housing prices raised concerns that Beijing could step in to cool the market.
These fears combined to make Chinese stocks some of the worst performers for the week, with both the Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Composite falling 2.8% over the period.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index dumped 12.30 points, or 0.6%, to 2,034.39
Taiwan’s Taiex Index fell 67.10 points, or 0.8%, to 8,346.62
The Singapore Straits Times Index dropped 12.71 points, or 0.4%, to 3,205.24
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index resisted the downward trend and added 28.41 points, or 0.6%, to 4,863.35
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 did likewise and gained 13.46 points, or 0.3%, to 5,386.35
