Asian stocks fell sharply Friday, led by financials on renewed concerns about the health of credit markets dragged banks including Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Australia's Macquarie Bank and Singapore's DBS Group Holdings lower.
Shares of Mitsubishi UFJ tumbled 6 percent and Mizuho Financial Group lost 5.8 percent in Tokyo while National Australia Bank stock lost 0.9 percent and Macquarie Bank stock tumbled 3.2 percent in Sydney.
In Hong Kong, shares of HSBC Holdings declined 2.4 percent and Bank of East Asia lost 3.6 percent, while in Singapore, shares of DBS Group Holdings were trading 4.4 percent lower.
Japan's Nikkei 225 average ended 2.1 percent lower to 16,517.48 and the broader Topix index fell 1.5 percent to 1,610.75.
The Hang Seng tumbled 3.3 percent to 30,468.34, while the 43-issue Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 3.1 percent to 19,540.13.
Exporters also declined sharply on the yen's recent appreciation as well as the decline in U.S. stocks, with Toyota Motor Co. dropping 4 percent and Canon Inc. falling 2.7 percent.
In Hong Kong, local property stocks fell sharply as investors locked in profits after steep gains recently. Cheung Kong fell 5.6 percent while Sun Hung Kai Properties sank 4.7 percent.
Shares of personal-computer maker Lenovo Group added 2.2 percent despite the broad market weakness, after it reported nearly a three-fold jump in its quarterly net profit Thursday, leading to a 20 percent upgrade in Citigroup's target price on the stock.
ELSEWHERE:
MUMBAI: India's Sensitive Index slipped 0.9 percent to 19,549.44.
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi lost 2.1 percent to 2,019.34.
SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index tumbled 2.8 percent to 3,695.94.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.9 percent to 6,696.6 after ending at a record high Thursday.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted index sank 3.4 percent to 9,273.09.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX 50 index declined 1.3 percent to 4,154.13.
with files from other wire services
