Most Asian stocks declined on Friday as fears that the European debt crisis was deepening outweighed positive U.S. economic indicators and hopes for strong U.S. jobs data later in the day.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 Index docked 98.36 points, or 1.2%, to 8,390.35
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 220.35 points, or 1.2%, to 18,593.10
In Hong Kong, shares of PetroChina added 2.3% and Sinopec climbed 1.9%, while Cnooc advnaced 3%.
In a note Friday, Citigroup said the tax change should boost PetroChina earnings by 16%, and those of Cnooc and Sinopec by about 10% each.
But those gains in Hong Kong were far outweighed by losses in financial and other shares amid worries over Europe, and despite optimism about the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for December due later on Friday.
Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC fell 2%, while Ping An Insurance Group Co. lost 4.5% in Hong Kong.
Financials also weakened elsewhere, with National Australia Bank Ltd. dropping 1.4% in Sydney, KB Financial Group Inc.losing 1.6% in Seoul and Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. shed 3.3% in Taipei.
Japanese exporters with large exposure to Europe were among the market casualties Friday, as the euro lost further ground against the Japanese yen overnight, falling below the ¥99 level.
Sony Corp. lost 2% and Advantest Corp. dropped 3.3%, while Nissan Motor Co. gave up 2.2%.
Several energy stocks moved lower after benchmark crude oil futures lost ground overnight on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. dropped 1.5% in Tokyo, and Santos Ltd. fell 0.4% in Sydney.
Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. fell 1.4% in a downbeat Seoul market, failing to find support from its fourth-quarter outlook of a 73% rise in operating profit.
CHINA
Mainland Chinese stocks advanced as energy producer PetroChina Co. jumped after Beijing raised a threshold for a so-called windfall tax, effectively reducing tax payments for oil producers.
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 Index gained 14.22 points, or 0.6%, to 2,290.60
Banks and resource stocks also climbed after hefty losses recently, although many property developers declined on Chinese bourses.
PetroChina Co. shares climbed 1.6% and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, added 0.8% in Shanghai.
Shares of China Construction Bank Corp. added 1.5% and Jiangxi Copper Co. rose 1.7%, while Poly Real Estate Group Co. shed 0.9%.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index tailed off 10.35 points, or 0.2%, to 7,120.51
Korea’s Kospi Index shed 20.60 points, or 1.1%, to 1,843.14
Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 2.57 points, or 0.1%, to 2,715.59
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index backtracked 30.69 points, or 0.9%, to 3,253.43
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 34.20 points, or 0.8%, to 4,108.50
