Asia shares ended lower Monday, with commodity-related firms weighing on markets that were nonetheless trading off their worst levels of the session.
The Nikkei 225 Index shaved off 40.71 points, or 0.5%, to end the week’s first session at 9,069.29.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped 40.24 points, or 0.2%, to 20,694.70
Standard & Poor’s on Monday downgraded its 2012 economic outlook for the Asia Pacific region, citing the slowdown in China, troubles in the euro zone and a weaker economic recovery in the U.S.
Japanese steel makers, sensitive to the outlook in China, lost ground Monday, with JFE Holdings Inc., down 4.9%, Kobe Steel Ltd. falling 2.9%, and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd retreating 4% in Tokyo.
Metals stocks were also weaker elsewhere in the region, as South Korean steel major Posco fell 1.1% and Korea Zinc Co. lost 1.1%.
In Australia, metal extractor Rio Tinto Ltd. dropped 2% while Aquarius Platinum Ltd. declined 2.9% as platinum futures fell.
Energy firms were also lower, as commodity futures came under broad selling pressure Monday amid some strength in the U.S. dollar. PetroChina Co. was lower by 0.4%
Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. gave up 2.6% after reports of a disturbance at one of the company’s northern China plants, which makes components for Apple Inc.
Around 40 people were hospitalized and some arrests were made, according to a Wall Street Journal report on the incident.
Parent firm Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. fell 1% in Taipei.
The Japanese yen — which along with the U.S. dollar can be seen as a relatively safe place to park cash — added to gains over the weekend, as the dollar tested the ¥78 level.
Currency-sensitive firms were broadly weaker in Japan Monday, with Canon Inc. down 3.9% and Panasonic Corp. lower by 2.9%.
But chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp. surged 31% in Tokyo. Several reports over the weekend said the struggling firm could receive a bid from a consortium of some of Japan’s biggest manufacturers in an effort to block a takeover offer from U.S. private-equity firm KKR & Co.
A report in the Nikkei business daily said firms to join in the bid would include Panasonic and Canon, as well as Toyota Motor Corp., down 1.6% Monday; Honda Motor Co., lower by 1.8%; Nissan Motor Co., off 2.7%; and Fanuc Corp., falling 1.3%
Japan Airlines Co.managed to gain ground, trading up 1.1% after re-listing on the Tokyo stock exchange last week.
Telecom and technology firms saw some follow-on buying from the end of last week, when Apple launched its new iPhone to strong demand.
KDDI Corp. gained 3% in Tokyo while China Unicom Ltd. rose another 0.2% in Hong Kong.
Apple arch-rival Samsung Electronics Co. climbed 1.9% in South Korea.
Hong Kong-listed real estate developers were lower. A weekend report in the People’s Daily cited a senior housing ministry official as saying the government will continue to press ahead with controls to cool the housing market.
Shares of Evergrande Real Estate Group fell 1.9% while Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. eased 1.1%.
U.S. stocks had ended mostly lower Friday, with the major indexes closing near their session lows, as investors weighed central-bank easing measures with concerns about the health of the global economy
CHINA
China’s GDP growth outlook was cut to 7.5% from 8%, while Japan’s forecast was lowered to 2%, South Korea’s cut to 2.5%, and Singapore’s trimmed to 2.1%, the credit-rating firm said in a statement.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index gained 16.45 points, or 0.8%, to 2,215.52
Investors were given further cause for unease after Japan’s prime minister warned Beijing that anti-Japanese protests in China could further hurt the Chinese economy.
The protests are related to a dispute between China and Japan over ownership of a group of islands known as the Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese.
In other markets
Korea’s Kospi index inched up 1.07 points to 2,003.44
The Singapore Straits Times Index lopped off 10.30 points, or 0.3%, to 3,067.93
Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 13.71 points, or 0.2%, to 7,768,30
New Zealand’s NZX index docked 0.42 points to 3,809.15
Australia’s ASX Index lost 22.82 points, or 0.5%, to 4,385.47
