Most Asia markets traded with sizeable losses Thursday, as fear grew that the U.S. could fail to achieve a debt deal to avoid a default or sovereign downgrade, though Hong Kong managed a late-session turnaround to end higher.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average plummeted 145.84 points, or 1.5%, to 9,901.35
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index regained 29.05 points, or 0.1%, to 22,570.70, paring heavy losses earlier in the day, helped by buying in real-estate stocks.
U.S. political leaders on Wednesday were attempting to draw support for competing Republican and Democratic plans to raise the debt limit and reduce the deficit in order to avoid a default or downgrade.
But the lack of major progress on a deal spurred large losses on Wall Street, with shares there also weighed by "weakish" U.S. data and earnings reports, spurring a renewed flight from risk markets, according to strategists at RBC Capital Markets.
Technology firms were some of the worst U.S. performers, with those losses spreading to Asia on Thursday. In Tokyo, Elpida Memory Inc. plunged 4.8%, and chip-equipment maker Advantest Corp dropped 6.9% after posting a fall in quarterly profit and delivering a downbeat outlook.
LG Electronics Inc. ended 2.7% lower, and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. traded down 1.1% in South Korea.
Sony Corp., which fell 1.1%, reported after the close that it swung to a first-quarter net loss.
Panasonic Corp. managed to buck the market downtrend, rising 0.5% amid reports that the firm would sell Sanyo Electric Co. home-appliance units to China’s Haier Electronics Group Co.
Haier fell 1.6% in Hong Kong.
Japanese exporters were suffering broadly after a drop in U.S. durable goods orders for June raised questions about future demand, and as the dollar stayed stubbornly below the 78-yen mark Thursday.
Honda Motor Co. ended the day down 1.9%, while Fujitsu Ltd. fell 1.5%
Hong Kong-listed exporters were also mostly weaker, with Li & Fung Ltd. down 3.8%, and Lenovo Group Ltd. falling 2.5%, while ports operator Cosco Pacific Ltd. lost 1.1% on global economic concerns.
However, some Hong Kong-listed real-estate stocks managed late gains to build on their advance in the previous session. China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. added 1.4%, while Hang Lung Properties Ltd. improved by 0.5%.
Australia’s Macquarie Group Ltd. dropped 4.6% after the firm said its fiscal first-half result would likely be lower than that of the year-earlier period, although it stuck to its fiscal-year guidance.
In other markets
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index shed 19.05 points, or 0.6%, to 2,981
Korea’s Kospi Index let go of 18.46 points, or 0.9%, to 2,155.85
Taiwan’s Taiex Index slipped 50.29 points, or 0.6%, to 8,767.20
Singapore’s Straits Times Index docked 3.69 points, or 0.1%, to 3,189.85
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index doffed 15.56 points, or 0.5%, to 3,396.79
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index settled 73.60 points, or 1.6%, to 4,463.80
