Most Asian markets declined Friday as concerns about inflation in the region sparked a wave of selling in some countries.
Japanese and South Korean shares suffered big declines.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 162.79 points, or 1.6%, to 10,274.50
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index chucked 126.84 points, or 0.5%, to 23,876.90
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. gave up 5.4% and Nippon Light Metal sank 5.1% in Tokyo, while among Australian mining heavyweights, BHP Billiton Ltd. shed 1.1% and Rio Tinto PLC dropped 1.4%.
Korea Zinc skidded 3% and Sterlite Industries gave up 2.6% in Mumbai afternoon trading, while Aluminum Corp. of China fell 1.2% in Hong Kong, despite rising 1.5% in line with the broader market in Shanghai.
Several energy-sector shares also dropped on crude’s fall on Thursday to below $90 U.S. a barrel. Inpex Corp. fell 3.2% in Tokyo and Woodside Petroleum gave up 0.6% in Sydney, with Cnooc shrinking 2% in Hong Kong.
In Tokyo, the market was hit by concerns that further monetary-policy tightening from Beijing could slow China’s growth and impede the global economic recovery, said Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at kabu.com Securities.
Hitachi Construction Machinery fell 2.5% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group lost 2.6%.
There were also some gainers.
Tokyo Electric Power rose 1.4% after the Nikkei reported Friday it will team up with Toshiba and the Japanese government to build one of the world’s biggest solar power stations in Bulgaria.
NEC Corp. rose 2.1% on another report in the Nikkei that it was in the final stages of talks to form a personal computer joint venture with China’s Lenovo Group. Lenovo slipped 0.6% in Hong Kong.
South Korean stocks declined as foreigners remained net sellers there, though buying from domestic retail investors was providing support, said some experts.
Hyundai Motor Co. dropped 4.4% and Kia Motors Corp. fell 3.3%, while heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co. gave up 1.1%. LG Electronics Inc. climbed 1.2% on hopes that its fourth-quarter earnings will top market expectations.
In the foreign-exchange markets, the euro climbed against major currencies, and was buying $1.3536 from $1.3473 U.S. Thursday in New York, and 112.07 yen from ¥111.80. The U.S. dollar was at ¥82.79 from ¥82.98.
CHINA
Chinese stocks finished higher on bargain buying.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index regained 38.74 points, or 1.3%, to 2,983.46, after shedding 3.3% Thursday as stronger-than-expected economic data fueled fears of more monetary-tightening measures. But some analysts said the upside was likely to be limited.
On mainland Chinese bourses, property developers also recovered some ground they recently lost, with Gemdale Corp. climbing 6.5% in Shanghai and China Vanke Co. rising 3% in Shenzhen.
Adding to concerns of more tightening ahead in China, the state-run China Securities Journal said in a commentary Friday that the first rate hike this year could be around the Lunar New Year holiday in early February. The paper said China faces strong inflation pressures and the consumer-price index could rise more than 6% within the first half of the year.
China’s CPI slowed to 4.6% in December from 5.1% in November, but that was probably due to "a brief weakening in consumer spending due to cold weather in winter," one expert said, adding that as China goes into the Lunar New Year holidays in early February, consumption may accelerate, which will likely result in higher inflation.
In other markets
Korea’s Kospi Index shed 36.74 points, or 0.7%, to 2,069.92
Taiwan’s Taiex Index retreated 67.79 points, or 0.8%, to 8.954.38
Singapore’s Straits Times Index skidded 20.88 points, or 0.7%, to 3,184.60
New Zealand’s NZX 50 picked up 13.44 points, or 0.4%, to 3,352.72
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 28 points, or 0.6%, to 4,755.70
