Asian stock markets followed their U.S. peers lower Tuesday, as a rise overnight in Spanish and Italian government-bond yields stoked concerns that Europe’s debt crisis was deepening.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dipped 61.77 points, or 1.1%, to 8,603.70
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index eased 159.74 points, or 0.8%, to 19,348.40
Companies with large exposure to the global growth outlook were among the decliners. In Hong Kong, Lenovo Group Ltd. retreated by 1.3%, and Esprit Holdings Ltd. fell 2.9%, while on the Sydney bourse, global shopping-mall operator Westfield Group Australia lost 2.4%.
But Japanese exporters took a larger hit, carrying an additional weight from the strong yen, with the U.S. dollar trading around the ¥77 level. Shortly after the close of Tokyo trading, the dollar was buying ¥76.98.
Against this backdrop, Sony Corp. gave up 1.5%, Elpida Memory Inc. tumbled 9.1%, Renesas Electronics Corp. fell 4.1%, and Sharp Corp. dropped 1.7%.
In Hong Kong, stock in China Construction Bank Corp. rose 1.1%, even as its Shanghai-listed shares lost 0.4% after Bank of America Corp. sold off a 4% stake in CCB at a discount.
Bernstein Research said in a note Tuesday that the share sale was a positive for CCB, adding they "expect the sale to remove a significant overhang on the stock."
In Tokyo, Inpex Corp. dropped 2.5%, and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. ended with a 2.9% loss, while on the Hong Kong exchange, PetroChina Co. traded down 1.7%.
Australian uranium miners rose after Prime Minister Julia Gillard signalled her government plans to end a long-standing ban on selling uranium to India.
Shares in Paladin Energy Ltd. closed 3.1% higher, while Toro Energy Ltd. climbed 10.4% and Deep Yellow Ltd. rocketed to a 28% gain.
Despite Tuesday’s generally bearish tone on Asian markets, one expert said the selling may be short-lived.
However, he added that Asian markets are still primarily driven by news and sentiment rather than technical factors, so any development on Europe’s debt crisis, U.S. monetary policy or Chinese inflation would trump expectations for December share gains.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index dropped 5.52 points, or 0.2%, to 2,744.68
Taiwan’s Taiex Index subtracted 34.59 points, or 0.5%, to 7,491.06
Korea’s Kospi Index regressed 16.69 points, or 0.9%, to 1,886.12
Singapore’s Straits Times Index moved down 18.56 points, or 0.7%, to 2,811.58
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index regained 7.47 points, or 0.2%, to 3,317.33
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 19 points, or 0.4%, to 4,285.60
