Asia stocks finished lower on Friday, with manufacturers and property stocks among the hardest hit, as initial optimism about cooling inflation in China and a fresh U.S. jobs plan evaporated in afternoon trading.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 average stepped back 55.46 points, or 0.6%, to finish the week at 8,737.66
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 46.19 points, or 0.2%, to 19,866.60
Weighing on sentiment in Tokyo, Japan revised down its April-June gross domestic product Friday, registering a 0.5% contraction during the quarter compared to a 0.3% fall in the preliminary reading.
Following the data, Japanese construction-linked firms lost ground, with Japan Steel Works Ltd. falling 2.1% and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. losing 1.0%.
Property stocks suffered in the Hong Kong session, with China Resources Land Ltd. falling 1.8%, and Agile Property Holdings Ltd. off 2.1%.
South Korean car firms were also under pressure, with Hyundai Motor Co. down 2% and Kia Motors Corp falling 1.7%.
Financials gained after the data, suggesting investors saw inflation as tame enough to avoid fresh monetary-policy tightening. In Hong Kong, China Life Insurance Co. jumped 2.8%, Ping An Insurance Group Co. traded up 0.9%, and HSBC Holdings PLC added 0.5%.
Aozora Bank Ltd. pared early losses to trade up 2.8%, with the initial fall coming after a report that Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. will seek a minority stake rather than full control of the Japanese lender. Shares of ANZ gained 0.1%.
Retailers outperformed in the Sydney session, with Myer Holdings Ltd. up 1.8% and David Jones Ltd. gaining 1%.
Asian shares had wobbled earlier in the day after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke failed to provide an outline Thursday on how or whether the central bank could ease the costs of borrowing further.
Later that day, U.S. President Barack Obama said that the current state of the economy was a national crisis and outlined a broad jobs package of tax cuts and other incentives designed to give the economy a jolt.
CHINA
On Friday, Chinese consumer and producer price indexes showed inflation cooling in August, with the CPI 6.2% higher than a year earlier, easing from July’s three-year-high inflation rate of 6.5%.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index slid 5.01 points, or 0.2%, to 2,751.09
In other markets:
Korea’s Kospi Index moved backward 33.71 points, or 1.8%, to 1,812.93
Taiwan’s Taiex Index bucked the trend and moved up 62.30 points, or 0.8%, to 7,610.57
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell back 31.80 points, or 1.1%, to 2,825.10
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index gained 15.88 points, or 0.5%, to 3,323.93
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index inched up 6.70 points, or 0.2%, to 4,194.70
