Most Asian markets fell Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of a key summit of European leaders later in the day and as Chinese stocks were hit by disappointment over a lack of policy easing from Beijing.
The drop on mainland Chinese bourses applied pressure on Hong Kong, where shares fell for the first time in seven trading days. Taiwanese stocks bucked the trend, rising sharply as the market there reopened after a long Lunar New Year holiday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index fell 48.17 points, or 0.5%, to close Monday at 8,793.05
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 341.26 points, or 1.7%, to 20,160.40
The broad losses came ahead of a summit of European leaders in Brussels Monday, as questions surrounded Greek finances.
The Financial Times reported that Germany was pushing to institute European Union oversight of Greece’s budget, which Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos later said would be unnecessary.
Shares of developers and mainland banks fell sharply in Hong Kong and Shanghai amid fears over the property sector’s outlook in the absence of policy easing by Beijing.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. shrank 3%, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. gave up 3.6% and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. fell 3.1%. In Shanghai, ICBC fell 2.1% and AgBank lost 1.5%, while Poly Real Estate Group Co. slid 4.7%.
Several resource stocks also fell sharply in Hong Kong, with Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., or Chalco down 3.4% and Jiangxi Copper Co. 4% lower. In Shanghai, they lost 1.1% and 1%, respectively.
Among exporters, Toyota Motor Corp. dropped 1.7%, and Mazda Motor Corp. fell 3.1%, while Fujitsu Ltd. fell 3.4%.
Chip maker Elpida Memory Inc lost 0.9%, with the Nikkei business daily saying late last week the company would post a ¥90 billion ($1.17 billion U.S.) operating loss when it reports later in the week.
Despite losses for the Japanese techs, however, Advantest Corp. soared 12.4% after increasing its dividend for the year.
In Taipei, technology shares jumped as investors got the first opportunity to react to strong results from Apple Inc. after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Nanya Technology Corp. rose 6.6%, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. rose 7% and AU Optronics Corp climbed 6.4%.
In Sydney, European concerns and a cyclone off the shore of Western Australia were among factors weighing on insurers, with AMP Ltd. falling 1.8% and QBE Insurance Group Ltd. lower by 3.1%.
In other markets;
The Shanghai CSI 300 returned after the Lunar New Year holiday to forfeit 43.37 points, or 1.7%,
to 2,460.72
Taiwan’s Taiex Index, on the other hand, returned with a bang, surging 173.72 points, or 2.4%, to 7,470.41
Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 24.28 points, or 1.2%, to 1,940.55
Singapore’s Straits Times Index ditched 27.97 points, or 1%, to 2,888.29
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index tacked on 12.58 points, or 0.4%, to 3,307.22
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index erased 15.63 points, or 0.4%, to 4,272.74
