Asian stocks dropped, with a gauge of Chinese shares in Hong Kong near a bear market, after at least four investment banks cut their growth forecasts on the region’s biggest economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index hurtled earthward 488.32 points, or 3.3%, to end the week at 14,327.66
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong tumbled 216.59 points, or 1%, to 21,539.49
BHP Billiton, a mining company that gets about 29% of sales from China, slipped 2% in Sydney. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second-biggest mining company, slid 2.5% to A$61.50.
Toyota Motor, a carmaker that counts North America as its biggest market, fell 3% in Tokyo. Honda Motor, which gets about 83% of sales from overseas, decreased 3.1%. Sony Corp., the maker of Bravia televisions and PlayStation game consoles, sank 4.2%.
Tokyo Dome Corp. slid 6.4% to 545 yen, the lowest since last April. The baseball-stadium operator said profit will plunge 53%, missing estimates.
Olam International surged 12% in Singapore after a unit of Temasek Holdings Pte. offered to buy the rest of the commodity trader in a deal valued at S$5.3 billion ($4.2 billion U.S).
CHINA
Bank of America Corp., UBS AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc. lowered forecasts for China’s 2014 economic expansion after reports yesterday showed factory output rose in January and February at the slowest pace since the global financial crisis, while retail sales grew at the slowest rate for the period since 2004.
The Shanghai CSI 300 Index lost 17.49 points, or 0.8%, to 2,122.84
Premier Li Keqiang told reporters yesterday that the nation’s 2014 goal of 7.5% economic growth is “flexible,” and some financial-product defaults may be unavoidable.
In other markets;
In Taiwan, the Taiex skidded 60.16 points, or 0.7%, to 8,687.63
Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 7.67 points, or 0.3%, to 3,073.72
Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 14.48 points, or 0.8%, to 1,919.90
The New Zealand Exchange 50 index faded 32.66 points, or 0.6%, to 5,079.32
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 stumbled 83.22 points, or 1.5%, to 5,329.40.
