Japanese stocks suffered deep losses Monday on the yen’s strength and further profit-taking after concerns about a rise in bond-market volatility helped stoke extreme swings late last week.
The Nikkei 225 toppled 469.80 points, or 3.2%, to close Monday at 14,142.65.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index regained 67.38 points, or 0.3%, to 22,686.05
Exporters paced the losses in Tokyo as the U.S. dollar dipped below ¥101 a few times through the day, raising worries about the impact on competitiveness and repatriated earnings from a stronger local currency.
Sony Corp. lost 6.3%, Sharp Corp. fell 5.3%, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. tumbled 7.6% and Toyota Motor Corp. skidded 5%.
Concerns surrounding bond-market volatility weighed on banks and insurance firms, which hold substantial amounts of Japanese government bonds (JGBs).
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. slumped 2.9% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. declined 4.3%, while Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. slid 6.1%.
The drop came even as the yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB dropped three basis points in Monday’s trade to 0.83%.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda was reported as saying over the weekend that moves in the asset markets don’t reflect excessively bullish expectations.
Elsewhere in the region, Sydney markets suffered as high dividend-yielding stocks, such as banks, suffered further selling amid the Australian dollar’s weakness against the U.S. currency.
A weakening Australian dollar makes the relatively high dividends paid by local firms less attractive to foreign investors.
Shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia gave up 0.8%, Bank of Queensland Ltd. lost 1.3% and gaming major Tatts Group Ltd. dropped 1.2%.
Miners also weakened amid lingering worries over China’s economic growth. Iron-ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. skidded 3.1%, and diversified miner Rio Tinto Ltd. lost 2.6%.
Stock in some South Korean exporters rose, meanwhile, amid expectations that a strengthened yen would improve their competitiveness at the cost of their Japanese rivals.
Kia Motors Corp. gained 1.2%, and Hyundai Motor Co. added 1.5%.
In other markets;
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 Index took on 2.36 points, or 0.1%, to 2,599.59
Singapore’s Straits Times Index returned from holiday by docking 1.87 points, or 0.1%, to 3,391.30
In Korea, the Kospi Index inched higher 6.52 points, or 0.3%, to 1,979.97
Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 70.32 points, or 0.9%, to 8,280.10
The New Zealand Exchange 50 Gross Index doffed 48.05 points, or 1.1%, to 4,578.20
Australia’s S&P/ASX stumbled 23.64 points, or 0.5%, to 4,959.86
