Most Asian markets sank Monday on concern about the region’s exports after a dismal U.S. jobs report Friday, while Chinese stocks inched up amid expectations Beijing may not overreact to a spike in June inflation, caused by a surge in pork prices.
Many of the region’s financial stocks, especially those in Hong Kong, were hit before an emergency meeting of euro-zone officials later Monday, amid worries of a spillover of Greece’s sovereign-debt troubles to Italy.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average sagged 68.20 points, or 0.7%, to 10,069.50
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gave back 379.20 points, or 1.7%, to 22,347.20
The broad losses came as fears about health of the U.S. economy deepened after June nonfarm payrolls rose just 18,000 in June, well below the 125,000 gain expected by economists
The jobs data pushed the dollar lower against the yen, hurting shares of auto makers and other exporters in Japanese trading Monday.
Tokyo Electron Ltd. dropped 2.9% and Mazda Motor Corp. lost 2.3%.
Many regional banks lost ground, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. losing 1.5% in Tokyo and Westpac Banking Corp. shedding 2.9% in Sydney.
HSBC Holdings PLC dropped 1.5% in Hong Kong, also reacting to the fresh concerns about Italian debt.
Adding to the overall mood of caution was news flow related to the political wrangling in the U.S. for an extension of the nation’s debt limit. Talks on the debt ceiling Sunday broke up early and were slated to resume Monday, with no indication that a deal was close.
One bright spot on the Japanese market was Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., which added 7.3% after some fresh details on the government’s planned stress tests of nuclear-power facilities.
Japan’s government said the stress tests will be conducted in two stages, with the first stage covering currently idled facilities, according to reports Monday.
Shares of Bluescope Steel Ltd. tumbled 6.7%, and Onesteel Ltd. lost 4.9% in Sydney.
The drop came after the Australian government unveiled the details of its much-anticipated carbon-pricing reforms on Sunday. As expected, the legislation will set a price of 23 Australian dollars ($24.60 U.S.) per carbon ton emitted by the country’s 500 biggest polluters from July 1, 2012.
News Corp. tumbled 5.1%, as the British government came under pressure to delay approval of the company’s bid for television broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC in the wake of the "News of the World" phone-hacking scandal. News Corp. is the owner of MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.
CHINA
Mainland Chinese stocks bounced off the day’s lows in spite of nervousness over data from the weekend, showing that a spike in pork prices boosted food prices and overall inflation in June.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index added 4.02 points, or 0.1%, to 3,113.21
The central People’s Bank of China raised its deposit and lending rates by 0.25 percentage points last Wednesday, but many analysts don’t expect further interest rate increases even after the hot inflation data
Ranking among the day’s gainers, shares of SAIC Motor Corp. climbed 1.9% and Qingdao Haier Co. advanced 2.5%.
But many banks and property stocks were weaker, with China Construction Bank Corp. losing 2.2% and in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai; shares of Guangzhou R&F Properties Co shed 3.6% in Hong Kong and China Vanke Co. shed 0.8% in Shenzhen.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index lost 23.19 points, or 1.1%, to 2,157.16
Taiwan’s Taiex Index forfeited 83.70 points, or 1%, to 8,665.85
Singapore’s Straits Times Index slid 33.91 points, or 1.1%, to 3,117.37
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index faded 22 points, or 0.6%, to 3,434.14
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index stumbled 72.40 points, or 1.6%, to 4,582.30
