Asian stock markets dropped sharply Monday, led by exporters such as Canon and LG Electronics, amid worries over slowing global demand and crude prices as Hurricane Gustav bore down on Gulf Coast oil operations.
The key Nikkei index lost 224.71 points or 1.75% to finish the session at 12,609.47 while the benchmark Hang Seng index closed up 136.15 points or 0.65% at 21,042.46.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan said that Japan's monetary base declined 0.2% on year in August to 87.94 trillion yen outstanding after a 0.7% annual decline in July. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the monetary base was up 5.7% on year at 88.31 trillion yen outstanding.
Stocks fell across the board. Banks reversed early gains, with Mizuho Financial Group losing 1.1%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group falling 1.6% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declining 0.6%. Top brokerage Nomura Holdings gained 1.1% and Daiwa Securities closed unchanged. In the insurance sector, T&D Holdings gained 2.9% and Tokio Marine Holdings advanced 0.6%.
Exporters also closed lower. Sony declined 1.7%, Toyota Motor shed 1.5%, machinery maker Komatsu dropped 2.4%, Honda Motor fell 2.9% and Canon lost 2.7%.
Oil-related stocks lost ground on lower oil prices. Oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings plunged 6.7%, Nippon Oil fell 4.4% and Nippon Mining Holdings tumbled 5.1%. Mitsubishi Corp plummeted 4.1% and Mitsui & Co slumped 5.1%.
Among sea transporters, Kawasaki Kisen dropped 3.4%, Mitsui OSK Lines declined 2.4%, and Nippon Yusen gave away 2.3%.
The Chinese market closed lower, extending Monday's 3% slump, on worries about a slowdown in economic growth. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 20.24 points or 0.87% at 2,304.89, near 20-month intra-day low of 2,284.58.
Data reported Monday showed that China's purchasing managers' index came in at 49.2 in August, down from 53.3 in July, indicating a contraction in the manufacturing sector for the first time since November 2005.
Banks continued to decline, but airlines rose following a steep decline in crude oil prices.
China Merchants Bank fell 3.2%, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank shed 3.0% and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 2.1%.
Among airlines, China Southern Airlines rose 2.6%, Air China advanced 2.0% and China Eastern Airlines climbed 1.4%.
Refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp slipped 0.2% and index heavyweight PetroChina shed 1.7%.
Telecom stocks outperformed, with ZTE adding 1.4% and China United Telecommunications rising 1.3%.
Property developer China Vanke dropped 1.2% after several days of gains. It announced a plan to issue 4.5 billion yuan worth of five-year fixed-rate bonds on September 5-9.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed down 1.7% at 6,699.
Singapore's STI closed up 1.6% at 2,756.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index closed down 0.3% at 2,159.
Malaysia's KLCI closed down 1.2% at 1,086.
India's Sensex surged 3.8% to 15,049.
with files from other wire services
