Asian markets fell sharply Tuesday, with financial stocks such as HSBC and Shinsei Bank suffering steep declines on worries about rising bad loans at banks in the region as well as in the U.S.
Japanese stocks were also weighed down as a strengthened yen hurt exporters, while Hong Kong shares were dragged lower by China Mobile a day after it announced quarterly earnings.
The Nikkei 225 Index gave back 213.42 points, or 2.4% to 8,711.33
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index collapsed 465.02 points, or 3% to 15,285.89
Among financials, Westpac Banking Corp.fell 2.6% in Sydney, while Shinsei Bank lost 4.1% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shed 1% in Tokyo. KB Financial Group gave up 3.1% in Seoul, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. lost 2.1% in Singapore trading. In Hong Kong, HSBC tumbled 5.1%.
Brokerage and insurance stocks also ended lower on concerns about appraisal losses, with Nomura Holdings off 3.7% and Sompo Japan Insurance down 4.1% in Tokyo. Ping An Insurance dropped 2.8% in Hong Kong and 2.4% in Shanghai.
Woodside Petroleum fell 3.5% and Santos dropped 3.7% in Sydney after a large fall Monday in Nymex crude-oil futures. Cnooc lost 5.3% in Hong Kong.
A stronger yen weighed on Japanese exporter stocks, with Toyota Motor ending down 3.9% and Canon sliding 4.4%.
Hong Kong property stocks fell after large gains Monday and after data showed the city's unemployment rate rose to a three-year high in the first quarter, with Hang Lung Properties down 4.6% and Sun Hung Kai Properties losing 4%.
Market heavyweight China Mobile tumbled 5.1% after it warned of slowing subscriber growth Monday, although it posted a 5.2% increase in first-quarter net profit.
The euro and U.S. dollar were recently rebounding against the yen after falling sharply earlier in the day. The euro was fetching 127.10 yen after dropping as low as 126.10 earlier in the day, while the dollar was buying 98.18 yen, from a low of 97.74 yen.
Elsewhere:
China’s Shanghai 300 Composite Index lost 32.22 points, to 2,675.44
Singapore’s Straits Times Index actually gained 12.40 points, or 0.7% to 1,887.25
South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index was fairly flat, at 1,336.81
Taiwan’s Taiex Index jumped 99.75 points, or 1.7%, to 5,881.41
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index stumbled 33.94 points, or 1.3% to 2,664.86
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 91.60 points, or 2.4% at 3,677.40
