Asian equity markets ended sharply lower Friday after heavy losses on Wall Street, with Japan's automakers hit hard by weak September sales in the U.S. and a strong yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 246.77 points, or 2.5%, to 9,731.87
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index plummeted 579.76 points, or 2.8%, to end the week at 20.375.49, as trading resumed after Thursday's holiday and caught up with two successive days of declines on Wall Street. Shares of heavyweight HSBC Holdings skidded 3.7%, with China-related stocks also losing ground in the absence of trading in Shanghai.
Shares of Shanghai-based Glorious Property Holdings plunged 14.5% from its initial public offering price on its debut in Hong Kong Friday, continuing the run of weak debuts in recent weeks.
In Tokyo, shares in Japanese automakers were hit after data Thursday showed September U.S. auto sales returned to depressed levels as the boost from the government-run "Cash for Clunkers" subsidy program ended. Industry consultant Autodata's closely watched measure of the annualized selling rate fell to 9.22 million in September from the previous month's 14.1 million rate.
Toyota shares fell 3.7%, Honda Motor dropped 2.7% and Mitsubishi Motors shed 4.1%, while Isuzu Motors sank 5.5%.
Japan's insurance stocks also fell sharply following cues from Wall Street, with Tokio Marine Holdings dropping 4.7% and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group down 4.7%.
Among other recent Hong Kong listings, shares of Modern Media Holdings fell 11.1%, China Lilang dropped 1.4% and China South City Holdings gave up 3.1%. Metallurgical Corp. of China, which is also trading below its IPO price, rose 0.2%, while Sinopharm Group Co., one of the strong recent debutantes, climbed 2.3%.
Resource stocks suffered across the region on weakness in commodity prices. In Sydney, BHP Billiton fell 2.7% and Rio Tinto shed 2.9%, Inpex lost 3.2% and Nippon Steel lost 5% in Tokyo.
In Hong Kong, shares of PetroChina, Aluminum Corp. of China and Angang Steel declined 2.7%, 3.9% and 4.7%, respectively.
The region's technology shares also lost further ground after Thursday's selloff on Wall Street, with Inotera Memories down 2.9% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 3.5% lower in Taipei and Elpida Memory down 4.7% in Tokyo.
In Singapore, shares of StarHub dropped 3% in the afternoon as the loss of English Premier League and sports channel rights continued to weigh.
In foreign exchange markets, the euro was buying $1.4543 from $1.4526 in late New York trade Thursday, and 129.97 yen from 130.09 yen. The dollar was at 89.35 yen from 89.77 yen.
Shanghai and Seoul markets had the day off for a national holiday.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 133.41 points, or 1.8%, to 7,411.88
Singapore’s Straits Times index stumbled 52.91 points, or 2%, to 2,604.53
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 35 points, or 1.1%, to 3,148.66
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 finished 99.40 points, or 2.1%, lower at 4,601.70.
