Asian markets ended mixed Wednesday, with battered financial stocks such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group leading Tokyo higher after the U.S. central bank rescued American International Group, averting a feared bankruptcy of the insurance giant.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 140.07 points or 1.21% at 11,749.79 while the benchmark Hang Seng index closed down 663.42 points or 3.63% at the day's low of 17,637.19.
In a widely expected move, the Bank of Japan left its overnight call rate target unchanged at 0.5% by a unanimous vote and maintained its assessment of the economy, which it said was still sluggish.
Insurance stocks rose, boosted by optimism over the AIG rescue plan. Tokio Marine Holdings surged 5.0%, Sompo Japan Insurance gained 2.1% and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group advanced 0.3%.
Exporters were mixed despite dollar's gains against the yen. Canon jumped 3.4%, machinery maker Komatsu edged up 0.3%, and Sony surged 3.7%, while Honda Motor lost 1.5%, Nikon plummeted 5.6%, and Toyota Motor declined 0.4%.
Banks finished mixed, with Mizuho Financial Group dropping 0.7%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rising 1.3%, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group climbing 0.7%.
Bankruptcy court filings made by Lehman Brothers on Monday included a list of major Japanese creditors, putting their total exposure at $1.67 billion. Aozora Bank, the largest Japanese creditor on the list, tumbled more than 5% and Shinsei Bank, which is also included in the list, slumped over 10%.
Brokerages were weak, with top brokerage Nomura Holdings falling 2.3% and Daiwa Securities Group declining 1.7%. Meanwhile, property developer Mitsui Fudosan rose 2.2% and Sumitomo Realty & Development gained 1.6%.
In the tech space, Sharp rose 1.8%, Advantest surged 4.0%, Kyocera added 2.3%, and Fanuc advanced 2.1%. Matsushita Electrical Industrial closed unchanged. In the oil sector, Inpex Holdings edged up 0.5% and Nippon Oil rose 2.5%, but Nippon Mining Holdings fell 2.2% after oil rebounded in the Asian session Wednesday.
The Chinese market closed sharply lower for the second straight session after China Merchants Bank announced a large exposure to Lehman Brothers. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 57.59 points or 2.90% at a 22- month low of 1,929.05. The index has fallen 63.3% so far this year.
China Merchants Bank slumped 10.0% following Tuesday's 10.0% plunge. The bank said that it holds about $70 million in Lehman debt securities. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank fell by the 10% daily limit. Ping An Insurance tumbled 9.0% and China Life Insurance fell 2.5%.
Dairy firms plunged after authorities said they found more cases of melamine contamination in infant milk powder products. Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and Bright Dairy & Food tumbled 10% each.
Property developers also weighed on the market, with China Vanke falling 7.5% and Gemdale Corp plunging 4.7%.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp or Sinopec advanced 1.9%, while index heavyweight PetroChina climbed 1.1%. Crude oil fell $4.56 to settle at $91.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
China Eastern Airlines shed 0.7% after the airline reported a 23.1% fall in passenger numbers on year-over-year basis in August to 2.92 million. Air China lost 0.6% and China Southern Airlines fell 2.0%.
China United Telecommunications plunged 4.0% after Unicom's shareholders approved its merger with China Netcom on Tuesday.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed up 0.8% at 5,800.
Singapore's STI fell 1.7% to 2,419.
Malaysia's KLCI closed down 0.9% at 1,002.
India's Senex closed down 1.9% at 13,262.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index closed up 2.0% at 1,769.
South Korea's Kospi soared 2.7% to 1,425.26, a day after it plummeted 6.1%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6% to 4,722.20, unable to hold on to early gains.
with files from other wire services
