Asian markets fell sharply Friday, tracking a decline on Wall Street, as lingering concerns over the health of global markets dragged down financials such as Mizuho in Tokyo, National Australia Bank in Sydney and HSBC in Hong Kong.
In Tokyo, the 225-component Nikkei average dropped 1.6 percent to 15,154.61 and the Topix index lost 1.8 percent to 1,471.67.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index sank 4 percent, or 1,136.78 points, to end at 27,614.43, the lowest it has been since the first week of October. The 43-issue Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell even more, tumbling 4.3 percent to 16,737.73.
Hang Seng-constituent and market heavyweight China Mobile dropped 4.6 percent. Among resources firms, shares of PetroChina Co. fell 4.5 percent, while Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chalco, sank 4.9 percent.
Nintendo Co. sank 4.7 percent and Toyota Motor Corp. declined 1.8 percent.
In Tokyo, shares of Mizuho Financial fell 2.6 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 2.9 percent.
In Sydney, National Australia Bank stock skidded 4.2 percent and Macquarie Group gave up 1.6 percent. In Hong Kong, shares of HSBC Holdings slid 1.9 percent. In Singapore, DBS Group Holdings stock dropped 1 percent in afternoon trading.
ELSEWHERE:
MUMBAI: India's Sensex slipped 0.1 percent to 19,757.48, after rising as high as 19,838.03 earlier in the day.
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi lost 1.1 percent at 1,926.20.
SHANGHAI: The benchmark Shanghai Composite dropped 0.9 percent to 5,316.2.
SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index shed 1.2 percent to 3,437.41.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 1 percent to 6,461.90.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted index gave up 1.6 percent at 8,764.82.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX 50 index was unchanged at 4,114.18.
with files from other wire services
