Asian markets ended mixed Monday, with Tokyo and Hong Kong-listed stocks dragged down by last week's sharp fall on Wall Street, while a surge in airlines lifted Shanghai after China Eastern Airlines forecast a return to profit in 2009.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index slid 127.02 points or 1.2% to 10,855.08.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index stumbled 194.15 points, or 0.9%, to 21,460.01.
Several financials skidded after J.P. Morgan's results weighed on Wall Street, with market heavyweight HSBC Holdings falling 1.6% in Hong Kong, Mizuho Financial Group dropping 1.6% and Nomura Holdings losing 2.8% in Tokyo, Shinhan Financial Group shedding 2.3% and KB Financial Group dropping 2.4% in Seoul and Citic Securities declining 3.4% in Shanghai.
Financials also broadly declined in Taipei after the country's Financial Supervisory Commission said Friday Taiwan would limit the amount China's qualified domestic institutional investors could invest in Taiwanese stocks to $500 million. Fubon Financial fell 0.3%, while Sinopac Financial Holdings dropped 2%.
Banks also outperformed in Sydney on positive earnings guidance from Commonwealth Bank of Australia Friday, with Westpac Banking gaining 2% although CBA itself slipped 0.1% after rising in the previous two sessions. "Banks are holding it together after the CBA upgrade last week and it's a reminder that the local economy is in good shape," said RBS Head of Sales Justin Gallagher.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group advanced 3.3% after the Age newspaper Saturday reported it was in early talks with funds management group IOOF Holdings for a potential takeover. IOOF jumped 7.1%. An ANZ spokesman declined to comment and the IOOF spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.
Chip makers added to the selling pressure in Tokyo as investors locked in profits after Friday's jump. Elpida Memory declined 1.8% and Toshiba fell 1.7%.
News of the arrest of three aides of ruling Democratic Party of Japan Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa on suspicion of violating political-funds laws over his purchase of land were expected to have little impact on the stock market for the rest of the session, said Hajime Kitano, managing director at J.P. Morgan in Japan.
"I wouldn't say the impact is zero, but I doubt today's losses are due to politics," he said. If U.S. stocks rose on Friday and the Tokyo market subsequently fell today, attribution might be easier to assess, "but that's not the case for now."
Nuclear power-related stocks gained in Seoul, with Korea Electric Power rising 4.7% and Doosan Heavy jumping 7.9% after Yonhap reported that a Korea-U.S. consortium was likely to win a bid to build two nuclear power plants in Sinop in Turkey.
CHINA
Shanghai stocks ended higher after a volatile session, with China Eastern soaring 5.1% after saying it expected to turn in a profit for 2009, after suffering a loss of 13.93 billion yuan ($2.04 billion U.S.) in 2008. Other airlines also climbed, with Air China rising 4.6% and China Southern Airlines gaining 4%. China Eastern also climbed 1.1% in a downbeat Hong Kong market.
The Shanghai 300 Composite Index tacked on 17.95 points, or 0.5%, to 3,500.68
Elsewhere:
Korea’s Kospi Index was 9.98 points, or 0.6%, higher to 1,711.98
Taiwan’s Taiex index dropped 19.07 points, or 0.2%, to 8,337.82
Singapore’s Straits Times index added 3.60 points to 2,912.02
New Zealand’s NZX Index retreated 10.85 points, or 0.3%, to 3,247.10
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 11.50 points, or 0.2%, to 4,911.10
