Stocks across the Pacific, particularly in Japan, fell on Friday after the European Central Bank dashed expectations for greater stimulus, triggering a broader selloff after the U.S. dollar weakened against the yen.
The Nikkei 225 index collapsed 435.42 points, or 2.2%, to 19.504.48, hitting its lowest level in nearly three weeks and suffering its biggest daily drop since Sept. 29. The benchmark index suffered its first weekly loss in seven weeks, shedding 1.9%.
The big news out of Japan Friday was the announcement of a three-way merger between Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Sony's PC spinoff business Vaio.
The Nikkei reported the three are considering an integration of their PC operations which would give them upwards of 30% of the
Japanese market share, surpassing market leader NEC Lenovo Japan. It would also make them a notable global competitor.
Shares in Sony were down in morning trade by 2.4%, Toshiba saw losses of 1%, while Fujitsu was up by 2.3%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dipped 181.12 points, or 0.8%, to 22,235.89. For the week, Hang Seng was up 0.8%
Among the most actively traded stocks in Hong Kong's were Jun Yang Financial, up 6.3%, CMMB Vision, up 13.2% and Ngaishun Holdings, whose share prices were unchanged
In the South Korean market, the Kospi continued its losing run this week and closed 20 points or 1% lower, its worst performance in over three weeks.
Blue-chip shares were all firmly in the red. Shares in Samsung Electronics were down 1.6%, steel manufacturer Posco was down 1.2% while Kepco saw losses of 2%.
Australian banking stocks were firmly in negative territory, with shares in ANZ off 2.5%.
Resources producers ended the session mixed, still weighed by global slump in commodity prices. Iron Ore miners such as Fortescue, Atlas Iron, and Mount Gibson were down as much as 5.2%.
Shares in miners Rio Tinto slid 2.7% while BHP Billiton were down 1.5% Overnight both stocks saw a big selloff in the London stock market on the back of the ECB decision.
Economically in Australia, the federal Bureau of Statistics also released the retail sales numbers for October, which saw 0.5% in turnover, in line with expectations. Retail shares traded mixed with shares in Myer, an upscale department store chain, up 2.6%.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai subtracted 71.71 points, or 1.9%, to 3,677.59,
Chinese finance stocks finished in the red, with brokerages seeing losses of upwards of 3.6%.
Major banks were also down, with shares in China Construction Bank down 3.9%
Property stocks were also in negative territory, with the likes of Vanke, Shanghai Shi Mao, Gemdale, and Poly Real Estate seeing losses of nearly 5%.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index doffed 4.84 points, or 0.2%, to 2,879.05
The Kospi index in Korea dropped 19.67 points, or 1%, to 1,974.40
Taiwan’s Taiex index slid 57.46 points, or 0.7%, to 8,398.60
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 30.85 points, or 0.5%, to 6,094.82
The ASX 200 let go of 76.11 points, or 1.5%, to 5,151.61
