Asian markets were mauled Friday, with Japanese, Indian and South Korean indexes slumping more than 9.5% each to end below crucial psychological milestones as fears of a global recession swept across the region. Benchmarks in Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and Taiwan dropped to their lowest levels in at least three years.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slumped 811.90 points or 9.60% to close at 7,649, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, which ended below the 14,000-point level a day earlier, fell past even the 13,000 milestone during the session for the first time since October 2004. The index ended down 8.3% at 12,618.38.
Sony plunged 14.1% after the company cut its annual operating profit forecast by 57% to far below market estimates in its second downward revision this year, blaming a firmer yen and slowing demand for cameras and flat TVs. Toyota sank 6.4% after the world's second-largest automaker reported a decline in quarterly sales for the first time in seven years. Toyota sold about 2.236 million vehicles worldwide in the three months ended September 30, down 4.3% from a year earlier.
Exporters plunged as the yen surged against the dollar and the euro. The dollar hit a 13-year low against the Japanese currency, falling below 95 yen. In late Tokyo deals, the dollar was quoted at 95.09- 95.12, down 2.59 yen from Thursday's close of 97.68-97.70 yen in Tokyo.
Among other exporters, Honda Motor fell 5.7%, Canon tumbled 12.6%, machinery maker Komatsu shed 11.6%, and camera maker Nikon plummeted 12.4%.
Tech firms also suffered, with Advantest losing 11.9%, Kyocera shedding 11.3%, and industrial robot maker Fanuc plunging 16 %.
Among banks, Mitsubishi UFJ lost 8.3%, Mizuho Financial tumbled 12.6%, and Sumitomo Mitsui shed 10.1%.
Commodity-related stocks also fell. Oil and Gas miner Inpex Holdings slid 8.3%, Nippon Oil declined 6.8%, Mitsubishi Corp dropped 7.0% and Mitsui & Co sank 8.6%.
CHINA
The Chinese stock market closed lower, extending its losses for the fourth straight trading session. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 35.94 points or 1.92% at 1,839.62, its lowest close since November 2006. The index hit an intraday low of 1,825.53 and ended the week down 4.71%.
Banks led the market lower on worries about the impact of the general economic slowdown. China Merchants Bank plunged by the 10% daily limit and Shenzhen Development Bank fell 4.1% after the bank reported that net profit in the third quarter rose 56.5% year-over-year to 1.17 billion yuan on higher net interest income. However, the rate of growth slowed from 90.7% in the first half. China Construction Bank dropped 2.8% and Industrial and Commericial Bank of China shed 2.6% ahead of their results later in the day.
In the property sector, China Vanke plunged 5.2% and Poly Real Estate Group shed 5.4% as investors worried that the latest government support measures for the housing market may not be enough to boost demand.
Among steelmakers, Laiwu Steel lost 2.2% after its third-quarter net profit fell 26.27% from a year earlier to 225.29 million yuan. Angang Steel gave away 3.0% despite a 28.93% rise in third-quarter net profit. Beijing Shougang fell 2.0%. The company reported a 86.8% drop in third-quarter net profit due to production cuts during the Olympics and higher raw material costs.
Drug firms outperformed as investors sought defensive stocks. Shenzhen Accord Pharmaceutical jumped 4.8% and Yunnan Baiyao Group gained 2.3%.
ZTE Corp gave away its early gains to close down 1.0%. Oil refiner PetroChina slipped 0.3% and China Petroleum & Chemical slid 2.2%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, which ended below the 14,000-point level a day earlier, fell past even the 13,000-milestone during the session for the first time since October 2004. The index ended down 8.3% at 12,618.38.
HSBC led the decline as the index heavyweight tumbled more than 12% to a more than 5-year low on concerns that its growth will slow in emerging markets.
Among other large-caps, China Mobile fell 6.5%, China Life plunged 9.3% and Hong Kong Exchanges plummeted 7.1%.Hutchison Whampoa dropped 6.6% following news that it will halt uncommitted spending until June next year and will review all new investments.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed down 3.2% at 4,579.
Singapore's STI closed down 8.3% at 1,600.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index closed down 6.9% at 1,244.
South Korea's Kospi index dropped even more, plunging 10.6% to close at 938.75.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped as low as 3,830, the lowest it has seen since November 2004, before paring some losses to end at 3,869.40 for a loss of 2.6%.
NZX 50 index lost 1% to 2,778.55.
with files from other wire services
