Asian markets sold off Wednesday as worries over the Middle-East political turmoil intensified, sending crude-oil prices higher and Japanese shares to their worst fall so far this year.
The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo stumbled 261.65 points, or 2.4%, to 10,492.40
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index collapsed 347.76 points, or 1.5%, to 23,048.70.
The region-wide losses came in the wake of steep overnight losses on Wall Street and concerns that rising energy costs would hurt the global economic recovery
Nymex crude-oil prices for April delivery straddled the psychologically-important $100 U.S. a barrel level in electronic trading on fears of a prolonged conflict between forces supporting and opposing Libyan ruler Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
Stocks in Tokyo were hit particularly hard, with Aozora Bank sliding 5% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group falling 3.2% among financials on heightened risk-aversion. Most exporters also lost ground on worries global demand would weaken amid rising energy cost-driven inflation, with
Toyota Motor Corp. losing 2.9% and Nintendo Co. falling 3.9%.
The region’s airline stocks were also sold down on fears about the impact from high fuel costs, with Cathay Pacific Airways falling 2.5% in Hong Kong and Qantas Airways shedding 2.2% in Sydney. All Nippon Airways dropped 3.1% in Tokyo and China Airlines fell by equal measure in Taipei; in afternoon trade, Singapore Airlines fell 2.3% and Thai Airways International lost 3.2%.
Several energy sector shares in the region outperformed the stock benchmark stock indexes amid buoyant oil prices. Inpex Corp. fell 0.5% in Tokyo, while PetroChina Co. rose 0.2% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai. Woodside Petroleum rose 0.1% and Santos added 1.5% in Sydney.
Precious metal plays also performed relatively well, with gold miner Newcrest Mining gaining 1.9% and Platinum Australia rising 3.2% in Sydney; Shandong Gold-Mining Co. rose 3.7% in Shanghai, while Zijin Mining Group Co. rose 1.7% in Shanghai and 0.3% in Hong Kong.
Among other significant stock movers, heavyweight banking major HSBC Holdings dropped 2.2% and Aluminum Corp. of China shed 1.2% to extend their losses in Hong Kong after they earlier this week reported 2010 results that fell short of expectations.
In Sydney, regional pay-TV company Austar United Communications surged 10.6% on news that major shareholder Liberty Global and rival Foxtel were in talks and mulling an Austar buyout. Foxtel is 25% owned by News Ltd., a unit of News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.
South Korean automakers bucked the broad market weakness in Seoul on optimism over their February car sales. Kia Motors added 2.4% while Hyundai Motor Co. added 0.6%.
Sands China shares tumbled 6.2% in Hong Kong after parent Las Vegas Sands said it’s being investigated by U.S. authorities over its compliance with anti-bribery laws in its Macau operations.
Shares of BYD Co. soared 9.2% in Hong Kong after Germany’s Daimler AG said China has approved its 50-50 joint venture with the company.
Shares of Yahoo Japan Corp. climbed 3.7% in Tokyo, after Reuters reported that Yahoo Inc. was in talks to pull out of the Japanese company by transferring its 35% stake to Softbank Corp.
Softbank said it didn’t intend to buy the stake in Yahoo Japan.
The euro, meanwhile, was at $1.3773 U.S. from $1.3777 U.S. in late New York trade Tuesday, and at ¥112.99 from ¥112.76. The U.S. dollar was at ¥82.05 from ¥81.82.
In other markets;
The Shanghai CSI 300 Index fell 11.60 points, or 0.4%, to 3,243.30.
Taiwan’s Taiex Index regressed 107.66 points, or 1.2%, to 8,619.90
Korea’s Kospi Index returned from holiday to slid 11.06 points, or 0.6%, to 1,928.24.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index stepped back 40.09 points, or 1.3%, to 3,027.51
New Zealand’s NZX 50 demurred 2.40 points, or 0.1%, to 3,381.99
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lopped off 23.20 points, or 0.5%, to 4,803.20
