Asian shares fell Tuesday after Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on U.S. government debt, highlighting fiscal challenges faced by the world’s largest economy and leading to a sell-off in global stock markets.
The Nikkei 225 Index jettisoned 115.62 points, or 1.2%, to 9,441.03
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plummeted 309.69 points, or 1.3%, to 23,520.60
Many resource-sector stocks declined as crude-oil and base-metal prices lost ground on the ratings agency’s warning, while regional chip makers were also hurt by Texas Instruments’ profit warning.
Trading volumes were light ahead of upcoming Good Friday and Easter holidays in some regional markets, with some analysts also viewing the day’s selloff as a temporary reaction.
Credit Agricole analysts said the "risk-off" mode in markets was also exacerbated by the euro-zone debt crisis, which shows "no signs of abating, amid market concerns over the risk of a Greek debt restructuring."
The yen’s strength after the S&P announcement on the U.S. ratings outlook weighed on Tokyo shares, sending exporters such as Canon Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp. down by 1.8% and 3.1%, respectively.
Shares of technology firms dropped after U.S. chip maker Texas Instruments Inc. said its first-quarter results and second-quarter guidance were hurt by the March 11 earthquake in Japan.
Renesas Electronics Corp. tumbled 5.4% and Elpida Memory Inc. sank 4.8%.
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics Co. overcame early losses it suffered following news that Apple Inc. had filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court, claiming the South Korean handset maker copied the U.S. maker’s popular iPhone smartphones. The stock finished 0.9% higher.
Also helping to support the South Korean market, shares of LG Display Co. and LG Electronics Inc. rose 6.2% and 2.5%, respectively, on hopes of improved second-quarter earnings.
Resource stocks skidded after several commodity prices fell in the wake of the S&P downgrade.
In Sydney, BHP Billiton Ltd. dropped 1.7% and Rio Tinto Ltd. gave up 2.3%.
In Hong Kong, Cnooc Ltd. fell 2.1%, while Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. and Jiangxi Copper Co. tumbled 3.9% and 3.4%, respectively, in Shanghai.
Shares of Newcrest Mining Ltd. fell 0.8% in Sydney after it said gold production could be 4.4% below its previous forecasts for the year because of rain in Australia and Papua New Guinea and unrest in the Ivory Coast.
In foreign-exchange markets, the euro recouped some of its losses against the U.S. dollar from the previous day and was recently up at $1.4252 U.S. from $1.4235 U.S. in late New York trade Monday; it was also fetching 117.54 yen from ¥117.68. The dollar was at ¥82.44, from ¥82.68.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Composite Index docked 63.63 points, or 1.9%, to 3,295.81
Korea’s Kospi Index moved lower by 15.04 points, or 0.7%, to 2,122.68
Taiwan’s Taiex Index shed 75.93 points, or 0.9%, to 8,638.55
Singapore’s Straits Times Index was down 19.01 points, or 0.6%, to 3,125.37
New Zealand’s NZX 50 dropped 25.19 points, or 0.7%, to 3,439.98
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 retreated 68.60 points, or 1.4%, to 4,793.30
