Asian stocks fell Tuesday as investors sold shares trading at their most expensive valuations in five years.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., which soared 26% in the past three days, dropped 5%. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., Australia’s third-largest iron ore producer, slumped 6.2% after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its recommendation on the stock.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average stumbled 153.37 points, or 1.6%, to 9,298.61. The measure climbed to 1.14 times its companies’ average book value yesterday, the highest level since Oct. 7, from a record low of 0.81 on March 9, according to Nikkei Inc. Book value is total assets minus liabilities.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong moved ahead 65.69 points, or 0.4%, to 17,153.64
Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan’s largest maker of plastic-injection-molding gear, slumped 9% after projecting lower earnings. Asahi Glass Co. climbed 12% after Nomura Holdings Inc. recommended buying the shares. NCsoft Corp., South Korea’s biggest online-game maker, surged 15% as brokerages raised their share-price targets.
Yuanta Financial Holding Co., the owner of Taiwan’s largest securities brokerage, slumped 6.9% in Taipei. Standard Chartered Plc, the U.K. bank that gets almost all its profit from emerging markets, fell 5.5% in Hong Kong.
HSBC added 1.8% in Hong Kong.
BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, slumped 2.8%. Mitsui & Co., Japan’s second-largest trading company, declined 3.8%. A measure of six primary metals traded in London fell 1.8% yesterday, the sharpest drop since April 28. Copper futures in New York dropped 2.7%.
Sony lost 3% as the yen strengthened against the dollar to as much as 97.14 today, a level not seen since April 29, from 98.43 at the 3 p.m. close of stock trading in Tokyo.
Mazda Motor Corp., Japan’s fifth-largest automaker, lost 4.6%. Kyodo News said the company may forecast an operating loss of more than 25 billion yen ($257 million U.S.) for the current fiscal year due to slumping vehicle sales.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, dropped 1.3% after the company said it’s idling three of 11 production lines at a domestic engine plant in anticipation of lower sales.
Elsewhere:
China’s Shanghai 300 Composite Index gained back 63.25 points, or 2.3%, to 2,788.56
Singapore’s Straits Times Index picked up 12.03 points, or 0.6% to 2,178.13
South Korea’s Kospi index backpedaled 11.65 points, or 0.8% to 1,403.51
Taiwan’s Taiex index tumbled 214.65 points, or 3.2% to 6,432.55
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 16.53 points, or 0.6%, to 2,812.70.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was off 48.80 points, or 1.2% to 3,877.20
