Asian markets ended broadly lower Tuesday, with hefty losses piling up in the afternoon session as investors sold Japanese exporters while National Australia Bank's capital-raising plan cast a negative tone for regional financials.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 272.1 points at 8,809.3 while the benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 703.7 points or 4.8% at 14,040.9.
On the economic front, Japan's unadjusted current account balance showed a smaller surplus in September, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday. The account balance posted a surplus of 1.4979 trillion yen in September, a decrease of 48.8% from a year ago. The September figure was slightly better than the contraction of 51.5% forecast by most economists. It marked the seventh consecutive month of shrinking trade surpluses.
In other economic news, the Cabinet Office said in a report that the Japanese Eco Watchers current index that measures present situation of the economy dropped for the seventh straight month to 22.6 in October from 28 in the prior month. Economists were looking for a reading of 26.8. At the same time, the outlook index fell to 25.2 from 32.1 in September. The indicator dropped in October after rising for two straight months.
Meanwhile, Teikoku Databank reported that the number of bankruptcies in Japan totaled 1,231 in October, up 13.7% from the prior year. Bankruptcies increased 9.7% from 1,122 in September. The cumulative number of business failures for January to October surpassed 10,000, standing at 10,524 cases.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ lost 2.9%, Mizuho Financial declined 1.7%, and Sumitomo Mitsui plunged 3.3%. Top brokerage Nomura Holdings plummeted 3.6%.
Among exporters, Sony lost 2.8%, Canon plunged 8.4%, Nikon tumbled 9.6%, Honda Motor dropped 5.3%, and Komatsu fell 2.2%. Toyota Motor closed unchanged. In the tech space, Advantest shed 4.6%, Fanuc slid 3.8% and Kyocera sank 4.0%.
Oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings sank 8.5%, Nippon Mining Holding gave away 1.1% and Nippon Oil slid 4.2%. Trading house Mitsubishi Corp fell 4.5% and Mitsui & Co declined 1.8%.
Mitsubishi Rayon slumped 10.2% after the Nikkei daily reported that the company is in the final stage of talks to acquire unlisted U.K.-based chemical producer Lucite International for an estimated 150 billion yen.
CHINA
The Chinese stock market closed lower as investors locked in profits following Monday's 7.3% surge on the back of an economic stimulus packaged announced by the government on Sunday. Wall Street's fall overnight added to the weak investor sentiment, as euphoria about the stimulus plan wore off. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.7% or 31.2 points to 1,843.6.
On the economic front, the Customs Bureau said that China's trade surplus increased to $35.2 billion in October. The surplus stood above the expected level of US$30 billion. Exports were up 19.2% year-over-year and imports rose 15.6% in the month.
Meanwhile, the consumer price index in China rose 4.0% on year in October, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, beating analyst expectations for a 4.2% annual increase following the 4.6% gain in September and a 4.9% jump in August. For the period of January to October, inflation rose 6.7% on year. For the period of January to September, inflation was up 7.0% on year.
Among property developers, Poly Real Estate Group advanced 3.1%, COFCO Property edged up 0.6%, and China Vanke climbed 2.3%. Baoshan Iron and Steel jumped 2.8%.
In the financial sector, China Life Insurance fell 3.8% and Ping An Insurance lost 2.4%. Bank of China gave away 1.5%, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank dropped 1.6%, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 1.8%.
Index heavyweight PetroChina lost 2.1% and oil refiner Sinopec plunged 3.4%.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed down 2.2% at 4,638.
Singapore's STI closed down 4.1% at 1,806.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index closed down 0.3% at 1,336.
Malaysia's KLCI closed down 9.6 points to 894.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 skidded 3.6%.
South Korea's Kospi fell 2.1%.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index lost 1.4%.
with files from other wire services
