Some of Asia's major stock markets closed lower Wednesday, with a brief climb in the Japanese market giving way to a decline after traders had time to digest the resignation of the country's prime minister.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 went south 108.59 points, or 1.1%, to 9,603.24
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index inched back 25.15 points, or 0.1%, to 19,471.80.
Japan's shares finished closer to their weakest level of the day after briefly climbing on news the country's prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, will step down. The yen also pulled back against the euro and the U.S. dollar.
Speaking to a gathering of Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers, Hatoyama said the two main reasons for his resignation were his botched handling of moving a U.S. Marine base in the southern island of Okinawa, and a series of political funding scandals involving him and DPJ Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa.
In Tokyo, Mitsui & Co. Ltd. closed 8.3% lower after touching a year-to-date low, on continuing concerns about costs stemming from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The trading house's Mitsui Oil Exploration unit has a 10% stake in the offshore oil block from which oil is leaking.
Shares of Prudential PLC were volatile, closing 1.9% higher in Hong Kong but down 1.4% in late Singapore trading, after the U.K. insurer said it was withdrawing from an agreement to buy AIG's largest Asian life insurance unit, AIA Group. The deal came unstuck after Prudential failed to renegotiate a lower price for the $35.5-billion U.S. transaction.
Prudential had sought to lower the price tag of the deal to a total of $30.4 billion U.S. after it became clear it wouldn't secure enough support from its shareholders for the takeover under its original terms.
Bank of East Asia Ltd. closed flat after climbing by as much as 4% on news that conglomerate Guoco Group had raised its stake in the bank to 9.12% from 8.99%.
Steep falls in commodity prices drove Australian shares lower, with financial plays posting broad declines. The government reported that the nation's economy grew at a more modest pace, with gross domestic product up 0.5% in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of 2009.
National Australia Bank Ltd. shed 0.7% and Westpac Banking Corp.lost 1.5%. QBE Insurance Group Ltd. shed 2.9% on concerns about potential exposure to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
On the upside, however, Gloucester Coal Ltd. added 4.4% after the company said Tuesday it has discussed with Noble Group Ltd. a proposal that may involve Gloucester acquiring some of Noble's Australian assets.
Against the yen, the euro traded at ¥112.05, compared with ¥111.44 late Tuesday in New York, while the dollar was fetching ¥91.61, compared with ¥91.11. The euro was at $1.2224 against dollar, from $1.2237.
CHINA
China auto makers gained after the government said Tuesday that it would subsidize buyers of battery-powered cars and plug-in hybrids in five cities.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 regained 13.36 points, or 0.5%, to 2,757.53
SAIC Motor Corp. rose 1.7% in Shanghai and Chongqing Changan Automobile ended 3.7% higher in Shenzhen.
Elsewhere;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index picked up 12.13 points, or 0.5%, to 2,727.52
Korea’s Kospi index had the day off
Taiwan’s Taiex index lost 93.62 points, or 1.3%, to 7,195.71
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index let go of 35.87 points, or 1.2%, to 3,018.89
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 32.10 points, or 0.7%, to 4,381.00
