Most Asian stocks fell, led by banks and energy companies, as concerns North Korea will step up military tests outweighed signs the global recession is abating.
Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 26.56 points, or 0.3% to 9,704.31, paring a climb of as much as 1.2%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell from an eight-month high, dropping nearly 500 points, or 2.6%, to 18,389.08, led by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sold a stake in the Chinese lender at a discount.
Shinhan Financial Group Co., which controls South Korea’s second-biggest bank, sank 2.3% erasing a 2.1% gain, after Yonhap News said North Korea was preparing to launch a medium-range missile.
PetroChina Co. lost 3.6% in Hong Kong after oil prices retreated. Honda Motor Co., which gets 48% of its profit in North America, climbed 2.2% in Tokyo, while Sony Corp., which makes Bravia televisions, jumped 4.3% on better-than-expected U.S. economic data.
Also in Hong Kong, Parkson Retail Group Ltd., a department-store operator, slumped 6.7% as its controlling shareholder sought to divest stock. Neptune Orient Lines Ltd., Southeast Asia’s No. 1 container carrier, surged 9.8% on plans to repay debt. EVA Airways Corp. surged 6.9% in Taipei after winning permission to raise ticket surcharges.
North Korea is preparing the missile launch in the region of Anbyon, northeast of Pyongyang. The latest exercise comes eight days after North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in three years. The Kospi Index fell 0.6% last week.
The Dong-A Ilbo newspaper separately reported today that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had named his third son as his successor.
LG Electronics Inc., the world’s third-largest maker of mobile phones, fell 1.3%, erasing a climb of as much as 4.2%.
Cnooc Ltd. China’s largest offshore oil explorer, dropped 1.6%. Crude-oil futures in New York, which yesterday settled at their highest since Nov. 4, sank as much as 1.4% in after-hours trading.
Oil climbed yesterday as the U.S. data added to signs the global economy is recovering. A Chinese purchasing manager’s index yesterday showed the country’s manufacturing industry expanded for a third month. Japan’s government last week raised its assessment of the economy for the first time in three years.
Kia Motors Corp. added 1.6% in Seoul. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, rose 2.7% on optimism metals demand will increase.
ICBC dropped 4.1% in Hong Kong. Goldman Sachs sold 3.03 billion shares, or a 0.9% stake in the Chinese lender, according to a document e-mailed to fund managers today.
Parkson Retail slumped 6.7%. A shareholder had offered 55 million shares at HK$11.71 to HK$12.07 apiece, according to an e-mail sent to investors by UBS AG, the sale’s arranger. Parkson said the shares were being sold by its controlling shareholder PRG Corp.
Neptune Orient jumped 9.8%. The company plans to raise S$1.44 billion ($1 billion U.S.) selling new shares to repay debt.
In Taipei, EVA Airways surged 6.9%, while China Airlines Ltd. climbed 1.8%. The carriers, Taiwan’s two biggest, won government permission to raise ticket surcharges by as much as 25% to offset higher fuel prices.
Elsewhere:
China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 6.76 points, or 0.2%, to 2,865.10
Singapore’s Straits Times Index slid 4.25 points, or 0.2% to 2,375.82
South Korea’s Kospi index gave back 2.25 points, or 0.2% to 1,412.85
Taiwan’s Taiex subtracted 5.02 or 0.1%, to 6,949.08
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index returned from holiday to pick up 43.03 points, or 1.6% to 2,807.20
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tacked on 60.90points, or 1.6% to 3,955.30
