Asian markets suffered deep losses Thursday, pulling back as investors from Wellington to Mumbai dumped shares on concern about about a global economic slowdown and persistent worries about the financial markets.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 244.13 points or 1.98% at 12,102.50 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 3.1% to finish at 19,388.
On the economic front, the Japan Machine Tool Builders Association or JMTBA said that Japan's core machinery orders were down a seasonally adjusted 3.9% in July, falling for the second straight month. However, the decline was slightly better than analysts' expectations for a monthly decline of 4.0%. In June, core machinery orders fell 2.6%. On an annual basis, core machinery orders fell 4.7%.
Financial stocks closed sharply lower, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group plunging 5.1%, Mizuho Financial Group plummeting 5.3%, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group falling 4.6%. Top brokerage Nomura Holdings tumbled 5.9% and Daiwa Securities Group lost 3.1%. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Sompo Japan Insurance slumped 5.1% each.
Among commodity-related stocks, trading house Mitsubishi Corp and Marubeni added 0.2% each, and Mitsui & Co edged up 0.1%, but Itochu lost 2.1%. Oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings declined 1.1%, Nippon Mining Holdings plunged 4.0%, and Nippon Oil shed 0.3%.
Exporters closed weak, with Toyota Motor plunging 2.4%, Honda Motor falling 2.2%, Sony tumbling 3.7% and Cannon plummeting 3.6%, and machinery maker Komatsu declining 2.1%.
Tech stocks finished the session mixed. Fujitsu gained 1.5% and Tokyo Electron rose 1.4%, while Advantest slipped 0.2%, Fanuc fell 2.0%, Kyocera lost 1.9%, Matsushita Electrical Industrial shed 1.7%, and NEC plunged 2.1%.
Among shippers, Kawasaki Kisen rose 0.6%, but Nippon Yusen dropped 0.8% and Mitsui OSK Lines fell 1.1%.
The Chinese stock market closed sharply lower, led by financial stocks, ending a two-day winning streak. Investor sentiment was dented after U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers unveiled a restructuring plan following a $3.9 billion loss in the third quarter. Developers also fell sharply and resource stocks struggled on worries over slowing demand. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 71.78 points or 3.34% to close at a 21-month low of 2,078.98.
Among financials, China Merchants Bank slumped 8.9%, China Life Insurance plunged 8.0%, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank tumbled 7.7%, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 4.7%.
In the property space, China Vanke plummeted 6.3%, Gemdale dropped 8.6%, and Poly Real Estate Group tumbled 6.9%. Both China Vanke and Gemdale Corp recently reported year-on-year declines in August property sales.
Among miners, Zijin Mining shed 4.7% and China Shenhua Energy declined 5.0%. Jiangxi Copper fell 4.9% and Aluminum Corp of China lost 4.8%. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp declined 4.3% and index heavyweight PetroChina gave away 3.3%.
Bucking the trend, CITIC Securities rose 1.3% and Haitong Securities jumped 6.9%.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed down 3.2% at 6,251.
South Korea's Kospi, off 1.5%.
Singapore's STI fell 2.7% to 2,552.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index shed 1.2% to 1,862.
Malaysia's KLCI closed down 20 points at 1,042.
India's Senex was losing 302 points or 2.1% to 14,360.
Wellington's NZX 50 index dipped 0.3% to 3,333.54, after rising as high as 3,387.82 earlier in the day.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.9%.
with files from other wire services
