The major Asian stock markets declined Friday, with exporters stumbling again in Japan as weak U.S. jobs data and a strong yen hurt Tokyo shares.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index let go of 183.30 points, or 2%, to close out the week at 9.179.38, to erase the gains it accumulated earlier this week as the dollar stayed resolutely in the 85-86-yen range -- weaker than the level assumed by several Japanese corporations in their annual forecasts.
The dollar's weakness against the yen makes Japanese exports to the rest of the world more expensive.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index stumbled 90.64 points, or 0.4%, to 20,981.82
Tokyo shares dropped as news of the strong yen took a further toll on exporters. Shares of Sony Corp. and Canon Inc., both of which assumed the U.S. dollar at ¥90 and the euro at ¥110 for the remainder of this year in their forecasts, dropped 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively.
Sharp Corp. fell 2.7% amid the broad selloff in exporters, weighed by a Nikkei report that the company plans to cut liquid-crystal-display-panel production for one to two months, starting later in August.
The U.S. dollar was buying ¥85.27 Friday from ¥85.29 in late New York trade Thursday, while the euro was trading at ¥109.34, compared with ¥109.40. The yen lost some ground after Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Friday at a regular press conference that the country may need to act promptly on economic stimulus and that he was watching the currency market with "great interest."
Investors were also uncertain over whether the Bank of Japan would hold an emergency meeting on further monetary stimulus before an expected meeting between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa on Monday.
Trend Micro increased 4.5% after chip giant Intel Corp. said Thursday that it was bidding $7.68 billion U.S. in cash to buy security software maker McAfee, raising hopes demand for software in the sector would rise.
Hawkish comments from Reserve Bank of Australia Deputy Gov. Ric Battellino, signaling more interest rate hikes may be on the cards, further weighed on sentiment in Sydney. BHP Billiton dropped 1% and Rio Tinto lost 2.2%, with Telstra Corp. losing 2% and National Australia Bank shedding 2.1%.
Billabong International dropped 9.9% despite reporting fiscal year results in line with expectations, as the company said next year's net profit growth will likely come in as low as 2%. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said the market was forecasting earnings per share growth of 23% prior to the result.
Bucking the sector trend, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group added 1.7% in Sydney and 0.5% in Wellington after the lender said its third-quarter underlying profit increased 37% improvement over the same period a year earlier, driven by falling charges for problem loans
CHINA
Chinese shares dropped after Beijing announced new property tightening measures, with the Ministry of Land and Resources saying Thursday it will reinforce its campaign to crack down on land hoarding and misuse by property developers.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index stepped back 57.06 points, or 1.9%, to 2,898.33
Gemdale Corp. dropped 1.8% and Poly Real Estate Group dropped 2.9%. Lenders also lost ground after authorities published Thursday detailed rules governing a practice of setting aside loan-loss reserves for exposure to local governments' financing vehicles.
The Shanghai-listed shares of China Citic Bank dropped 2.9%, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China shed 0.5% and China Minsheng Banking Corp. fell 1.6%.
Elsewhere;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lopped off 10.29 points or 0.4%, to 2,936.48
Korea’s Kospi index fell off 4.10 points, or 0.2%, to 1,775.54
Taiwan’s Taiex Index dropped 1.63 points to 7,927.31
New Zealand’s NZX index lost 29.38 points, or 1%, to 3,000.40
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 48.10 points, or 1.1%, to 4,430.90
