Most Asian stock markets fell Friday amid more corporate gloom and worries that a key U.S. jobs report could show recession in the world's largest economy is deepening.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index declined 39.62 points, or 0.45% to close at 8,836.80 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 38.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,377.44.
On the economic front, Japan's Cabinet office announced that the leading index declined to 81.5 in November from 85.2 in October. A year ago, the leading index was 104.8. The leading index came in line with economists' expectation. The index fell for a second month in a row. At the same time, the coincident index stood at 94.9, down from 97.7 marked in October. The lagging index fell to 97.6 from 98.2 seen in October.
Tech stocks closed mostly lower. Advantest declined 1.18% and Tokyo Electron eased 0.60%, while Kyocera added 0.15%. Among banks, Mitsubishi UFJ added 0.18%, while Mizuho Financial lost 2.14% and Resona Holdings declined 0.68%. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Japan's third-largest bank, eased 0.50%. The company said it will issue an extra 160.7 billion yen in additional preferred securities to strengthen its capital base, bringing its total to just under 700 billion yen.
Export-oriented stocks closed mixed. Canon advanced 1.26% and Komatsu added 0.57%, while Sharp declined 1.43% and Sony eased 0.23%. Sony said on Thursday that it will begin selling a pocket-size notebook PC just slightly larger than an envelope in mid-January.
However, electronics components maker TDK Corp gained 2.00% despite the company's announcement that it expects to plunge to a 28 billion yen net loss for the year ending March 31 and added that it will cut more than 8,000 jobs overseas by the end of March.
Automakers closed sharply lower. Toyota declined 2.23%, Honda lost 3.03%, Nissan shed 4.99% and Mazda tumbled 7.73%.
Oil-related stocks closed higher and trading houses closed mixed. Inpex rose 2.95%, Nippon Oil gained 1.45% and Showa Shell climbed 2.53%. Trading house Mitsubishi gave away 0.22% and Mitsui & Co. eased 0.30%, while Marubeni added 0.85% and Itochu advanced 1.66%.
Elsewhere:
Singapore's Straits Times Index gave away 22 points, or 1.18%, to settle at 1,806.
India's BSE 30 Index lost 180 points or 1.88% to close at 9,406.
Taiwan's Weighted Index lost 33 points, or 0.73%, to end at 4,503.
China's Shanghai Composite Index added 27 points, or 1.42%, to close at 1,905.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index advanced 14 points, or 1.00%, to finish at 1,417.
Malaysia's KLSE Composite Index advanced 9 points to close at 919.
with files from other wire services
