South Korean and Taiwanese stocks tumbled Friday on heightened geopolitical tensions after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak defied calls to quit, and as the U.S. dollar jumped against major currencies.
Markets in Japan had the day off.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index recovered 120.30 points, or 0.5%, to 22,828.90
The losses in Seoul also came on concern the central bank there may soon tighten its policy despite standing pat on policy rates earlier in the global day.
Going the other direction, Hong Kong stocks rebounded from a four-day losing streak, aided by a continued rally in Shanghai, and as investors snapped up energy shares as crude-oil prices climbed on Mubarak’s refusal to quit despite mass protests.
The decline came as Mubarak clung to power, confounding earlier expectations that he would step aside. Mubarak said on state television that he would delegate powers to his vice president but stopped short of the resignation demanded by hundreds of thousands of protesters massed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
In Hong Kong, however, energy shares led a rebound after dropping sharply recently. Shares of Cnooc climbed 2% and PetroChina Co. rose 1%.
Shares of Wynn Macau jumped 3.3% after the casino operator said its fourth-quarter net profit more than doubled from a year earlier as gambling revenue in the Chinese territory soared.
Industrial Bank of Korea gave up 2.1% and Hyundai Steel lost 6.5%, while Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. gave up 1.6%. Hana Financial Group skidded 5.7% after the group on Thursday said it will raise 1.43 trillion Korean won ($1.27 billion U.S.) in a share sale to institutional investors.
In Taipei, meanwhile, airline- and technology-sector shares declined on heavy foreign selling, which also dragged on the local currency after recent gains. Shares of China Airlines fell 5.2% and EVA Airways Corp. sank 5.8%, while Inotera Memories lost 5.9%.
In Sydney, resource stocks mostly declined on risk aversion, with Rio Tinto losing 1.6% even as its results met expectations and the mining giant announced a $5-billion U.S. share buyback offer.
BHP Billiton lost 0.8% and Macarthur Coal lost 2.8%.
In foreign-exchange markets, the U.S. dollar rose against major currencies amid the turmoil in Egypt.
The euro was at $1.3546 from $1.3600 in late New York trade Thursday, and at 113.11 yen from ¥113.13. The dollar was at ¥83.48 from ¥83.22.
CHINA
On mainland Chinese bourses, real estate and automobile stocks extended gains despite policy tightening worries on bargain buying. The rise came even as the state-run China Securities Journal reported Beijing has required some small- and medium-size banks to deposit more reserves at the central bank.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index gained another 16.79 points, or 0.5%, to 3,120.96.
Poly Real Estate Group Co. advanced 2.4% and Gemdale Crop. rose 1.3%, while SAIC Motor Corp. climbed 0.4% in Shanghai.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index jettisoned 226.70 points, or 2.6%, to 8,609.86
Korea’s Kospi Index sank 31.31 points, or 1.6%, to 1,977.19
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 26.12 points, or 0.8%, to 3,077.27
New Zealand’s NZX 50 gained 1.57 points to 3,367.44
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stepped back 33.50 points, or 0.7%, to 4,880.90
