Asian markets ended a volatile session Friday on a mixed note, with South Korean stocks rebounding strongly as the central bank cut interest rates for the third time in a month, while Hong Kong shares were lifted after HSBC Holdings' local banking unit lowered its lending rate by a quarter-point.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed down 316.14 points or 3.55% at 8,583.00 while the benchmark Hang Seng Index opened 516.95 points or 3.75% lower at 13,273.09.
On Thursday, Toyota lowered its operating income projection to 600 billion yen for the year to March 31, down 73.6% from the previous year. Additionally, the International Monetary Fund flagged the risk of a global recession when it slashed its 2009 world growth forecast to just 2.2% from its previous estimate of 3%. The Fund now expects the Japanese economy to contract 0.2% in 2009 compared to its previous forecast of 0.5% growth.
On the economic front, traders had little reports to digest on Friday.
Automakers tumbled after Toyota issued a profit warning. Toyota Motor plunged 9.7%, Honda Motor plummeted 8.7%, and Nissan Motor tumbled 7.3%. Auto parts maker Denso Corp slumped 15.0%. Commodity-related stocks lost ground following a slide in oil prices. Mitsui & Co shed 8.8% and Mitsubishi Corp fell 4.4%. Oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings dropped 8.9%, Nippon Oil lost 2.8% and Nippon Mining Holding gave away 7.2%.
Exporters declined on the back of a stronger yen. Sony declined 1.3%, Nikon plunged 8.2%, and Canon slid 5.7%. In the tech space, Advantest dropped 6.4%, Fanuc gave away 7.7%, and Kyocera slipped 0.4%.
Banks closed mixed, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group losing 4.3%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declining 1.6%, and Mizuho Financial Group gaining 2.2%.
A handful of defensive shares posted gains. Seasoning maker Ajinomoto climbed 3.8% and soy sauce giant Kikkoman Corp rose 2.3%.
CHINA
The Chinese stock market closed higher, despite Wall Street extending its losses Thursday, as news reports said that the government might create a fund to support prices. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 29.99 points or 1.75% to end at 1,747.71. Financial and property stocks led the gainers.
China Merchants Bank jumped 3.7%, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 2.2%, Industrial Bank surged up 6.8%, and China CITIC Bank rose 1.5%. Among brokerages, Pacific Securities advanced 3.3%, Hong Yuan Securities moved up 2.9%, CITIC Securities climbed 3.8%, and Changjiang Securities closed up 1.6%. Elsewhere in the financial sector, China Life Insurance gained 3.0% and Ping An Insurance soared 4.8%.
In the property sector, China Vanke advanced 2.0% and Poly Real Estate Group rose 2.5%. Market heavy weight PetroChina climbed 1.7% and oil refiner Sinopec gained 2.7%.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed up 1% at 4,742.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index closed up 2.3% at 1,338.
Malaysia's KLCI closed down 2 points at 894.
India's Sensex closed up 2.4% at 9,964.
South Korea's Kospi jumped 3.9% to 1,134.49.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 2.4% to 4,051.30.
Singapore's Taiwan's Taiex rose 1% to 4,742.33.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index slid 1.7% to 2,791.65.
with files from other wire services
