Japanese and Australian stocks fell Tuesday after worries over China and a slump in commodities prompted a selloff on Wall Street, although many regional markets came off their lows as buyers circled back in after recent losses.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index declined 54.22 points, or 0.4%, to 13,221.44
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index let go of 100.64 points, or 0.5%, to 21,672.03
South Korean markets gained slightly after the government unveiled a supplementary budget that analysts said will provide a small fiscal stimulus to the economy.
The rise in Seoul came after the government introduced a 17.3-trillion-won ($15.53 billion U.S.) supplementary budget, of which about a third will used for additional spending.
In Hong Kong, China Life Insurance Co. gained 1.5% and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. climbed 0.9%.
But most regional commodity stocks ended lower, despite the recovery from the day’s lows, following a $140 U.S. loss for gold futures and a plunge for silver futures traded in New York.
In Sydney, gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd. and Perseus Mining Ltd. dove 5.1% and 5.8%, respectively.
In Hong Kong, Zhaojin Mining Industry Co. slid 3.4%, and retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. skidded 3.2%. Shares of Zhongjin Gold Corp. lost 3.3% in Shanghai, while Korea Zinc Co., which has an exposure to precious metals, plummeted 4.9% in Seoul.
The broader resource sector also weakened after brokerages including HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and J.P. Morgan downgraded their economic forecasts in the wake of Monday’s disappointing first-quarter economic data from China, one of the biggest consumers of global commodities.
Mining heavyweight BHP Billiton Ltd. lost 0.5%, and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. gave up 1.7% Sydney.
Jiangxi Copper Co. and PetroChina Co. gave up 1.9% each in Hong Kong. Seoul, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Corp. added 1.1% and Industrial Bank of Korea gained 0.8%.
In Japan, exporters and financials — which had powered gains of more than 25% for the two major stock benchmarks in the year to date — suffered another day of weakness. Exporters in particular came under pressure as the U.S. dollar hovered around ¥97, after testing the ¥100 level unsuccessfully last week.
Sony Corp. slid 4.1%, and Toyota Motor Corp. lost 1.6%, while among banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. gave up 3.6%.
Shares of wireless telecom Softbank Corp. plunged 6.8% in Tokyo, after Dish Network Corp. topped its bid for U.S. rival Sprint Nextel Corp.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 recovered 22.77 points, or 0.9%, to 2,459.59
In Shanghai, China Pacific Insurance Group Co. rose 4.3% and China Railway Construction Corp. added 1.6%, while Jiangxi Copper shed 0.7% and rebounded in afternoon trade to end 0.1% higher.
In other markets;
In Korea, the Kospi Index inched ahead 1.76 points, or 0.1%, to 1,922.21
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index regained 37.52 points, or 0.5%, to 7,801.05
The Singapore Straits Times Index tacked on 7.21 points, or 0.2%, to 3,291.58
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 slipped 26.87 points, or 0.6%, to 4,427.84
Australia’s ASX 200 dropped 17.06 points, or 0.3%, to 4,950.85
