Asian stocks ended mostly lower Wednesday, with miners and banks losing ground on the last trading day of a weak month, as uncertainly over Europe flared back up.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index eased 43.21 points, or 0.5%, to 8,434.61.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 266.85 points, or 1.5%, to 17,989.30
As November drew to a close, the Hang Seng Index had lost 9.4% for the month, the Nikkei Average gave up 6.2%, the Kospi was down 3.2% and the S&P/ASX 200 was off 4.2%
Still, the current week saw gains for many global stock markets, and U.S. stocks ended mostly higher Tuesday after consumer confidence data surprised to the upside.
After the U.S. market close on Tuesday, euro-zone finance ministers announced they had agreed on options to expand the region’s bailout fund and for a sixth disbursement of Greek rescue funds.
With a second day of European finance-minister meetings due to take place later Wednesday, and a leaders’ summit slated for next week, Asian markets remained cautious.
Asian metal-sector firms fared poorly Wednesday, with shares of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. down 1.7% in Tokyo, while Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. lost 2.4% and Rio Tinto Ltd. declined 0.9% in Sydney, despite that market’s positive finish.
In Hong Kong, Aluminium Corp. of China Ltd. fell 4.3%, and Jiangxi Copper Co. lost 4.4%.
Financials also traded broadly lower in Hong Kong. Bank of Communications Co. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. each dropped 2.8%, while Ping An Insurance Group Co. gave up 5.3%.
Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC, the Hang Seng Index’s top-weighted component, fell 2.1% after Standard & Poor’s cut its rating on the bank amid a downgrade of more than dozen major global lenders.
Citigroup Inc., which was also downgraded, saw its Japanese-listed shares drop 3.5% after the S&P move.
Property shares also suffered in Hong Kong as Credit Suisse forecast office rents in the city would drop by 25% next year and then stay flat in 2013.
New World Development Co. ended down 3.6%, while Henderson Land Development Co. fell 2.4%.
Tech stocks were also lower in Japan after the Nasdaq Composite lost ground on Tuesday, and as the U.S. dollar returned to trade below the ¥78 level.
Sony Corp. dropped 1.4%, Advantest Corp. closed 2.7% lower, and Elpida Memory Inc. fell 5.6%.
Olympus Corp. reversed sizeable losses early in the session to close 2.2% higher after the company denied reports that it was likely to miss a Dec. 14 deadline to file its earnings results or face delisting of its stock.
Among other advancers, Prada SpA rallied 2.7% after the Hong Kong-listed, Italian-based luxury-goods firm posted a 75% rise in third-quarter net profit.
Samsung Electronics Co. slipped 0.1% in South Korea to outperform the Kospi. The firm won a key legal appeal in Australia that will allow it to sell its latest tablet computer in the country despite claims of patent infringement from rival tablet maker Apple Inc.
Yahoo Japan Inc. gained 4.5% in Tokyo, but Alibaba.com Ltd. lost 2.1% in Hong Kong, after an anonymously sourced report in the Financial Times that the firms have offered to buy the stakes in their companies currently held by Yahoo Inc.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index jettisoned 87.05 points, or 3.3%, to 2,608.57
Taiwan’s Taiex Index jumped 89.87 points, or 1.3%, to 6,988.65
Korea’s Kospi Index slipped 9.01 points, or 0.5%, to 1,847.57
Singapore’s Straits Times Index restored 14.36 points, or 0.5%, to 2,702.46
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 30.74 points, or 1%, to 3,270.21
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index progressed 17.70 points, or 0.4%, to 4,119.80
