Asian stock markets kicked off the week in a downbeat fashion Monday, with Japanese equities weighed by news that the economy shrank last quarter, while China and Hong Kong eked out modest gains following upbeat trade data released over the weekend.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 81.16 points, or 0.9%, to close Monday at 8,676.44
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index regained 45.92 points, or 0.2%, to 21,430.30
Japanese data released Monday showed its economy shrank 3.5% on an annualized basis in July-September, with weakness for exports — particularly for cars and computer chips — reportedly helping drive the contraction.
Analysts said Japan was headed for a recession as the October-December quarter was also likely to show a contraction.
The losses in many of the Asian markets came after U.S. stocks closed Friday with modest gains but still ended the week lower amid the possibility of more than $600 billion U.S. of tax hikes and spending cuts — the so-called fiscal cliff — that some economists fear could tip the U.S. into a recession.
Hong Kong shares benefiting from rising exports moved higher Monday, with Li & Fung Ltd. closing up 1.1%; ports operator Cosco Pacific Ltd., ahead by 0.6%; snack-food maker Want Want China Holdings Ltd. , higher by 2.2%; and footwear firm Belle International Holdings Ltd. up 2.4%.
Chinese vehicle maker Geely Automobile Holdings and television maker Skyworth Digital Holdings, both seen as beneficiaries of recent diplomatic tensions between Japan and China, set fresh highs for the year. Geely ended the session 3.3% higher while Skyworth fell 2.1%, hurt by a late round of profit-taking on the stock.
In other action, Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings rose 1.7% ahead of third-quarter results expected later this week.
Japanese exporters traded mostly weaker after the data, also suffering from foreign-exchange rates as the U.S. dollar remained below the 79.5-yen level Monday.
Among Japanese tech-exporter majors, Sony Corp. fell 2.6%, while Hitachi Ltd. traded down 2.2%, and Toshiba Corp. retreated 1.8%.
As for auto makers, Isuzu Motors Ltd. fell 2.4%, Toyota Motor Corp. declined 1.8%, and Honda Motor Co, lost 1.3%.
The Nikkei reported Saturday that Japan’s auto sector could take a ¥130-billion ($1.64 billion U.S.) profit hit after exports to China were damaged by recent Sino-Japanese tensions over a group of disputed islands.
Not all car makers traded lower, however, with Suzuki Motor Corp. rallying 4.5% after posting more than 30% profit growth for the fiscal first half, and Mazda Motor Corp. gaining 1% after sealing a deal to make cars for Toyota at its plant in Mexico.
In South Korean trading, shipbuilders were some of the worst performers, with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. down 3.1%, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. down 2.4% and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. dropping 4%.
Samsung Electronics Co. edged up 0.3%. A report in Korea’s Chosun Ilbo said Monday that Samsung had managed to force archrival Apple Inc. to pay 20% more for Samsung mobile processors.
Meanwhile, HTC Corp. jumped 6.9% in Taipei after the firm settled all of its patent litigation with Apple, according to reports.
In Australia, QBE Insurance Ltd. tumbled 8.3% after it estimated its share of losses from U.S. Hurricane Sandy would range between $350 million and $450 million U.S. QBE says total insured losses for the industry from the storm could exceed $20 billion U.S.
CHINA
Recent days have also seen the release of a slew of better-than-expected Chinese economic data.
The Shanghai CSI 300 Composite Index grew 10.92 points, or 0.5%, to 2,251.85
After strong industrial-output and retail-sales numbers Friday, data over the weekend showed China’s trade surplus widened to $32 billion U.S. from $27.7 billion U.S. in September, above the $27-billion U.S. surplus expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
China’s exports rose 11.6%, beating expectations for a 10% increase, while imports rose 2.4%.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 1.99 points, or 0.1%, to 3,007.57
Korea’s Kospi index slid 3.54 points, or 0.2%, to 1,900.87
Taiwan’s Taiex Index staggered 25.47 points, or 0.4%, to 7,267.75
New Zealand’s NZX 50 added 26.08 points, or 0.7%, to 3,983.99
Australia’s ASX Index inched back 13.99 points, or 0.3%, to 4,448.03
