Asian stocks declined, as raw-material prices fell yesterday and Hong Kong enacted measures to curtail property speculation.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 collapsed 150.16 points, or 1.5%, to 10,212.46.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index plummeted 420.14 points, or 1.9%, to 22,169.59.
Mitsubishi Corp., a Japanese trading company that gets 39% of its sales from commodities, slumped 5.5% Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. sank 3.4% in Hong Kong after the city tightened down-payment requirements for luxury homes.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Japan’s number-three shipping line, dived 6.4% after more than doubling its yearly loss forecast.
Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., the second biggest, slid 3%. Down payments for homes priced above HK$20 million ($2.6 million U.S.) will be raised to 40% from 30%.
In Japan, consumer lenders Aiful Corp. and Promise Co. lost more than 2% after an industry group said about 50% of customers may be rejected for additional loans.
In Australia, James Hardie Industries NV, the number-one seller of home siding in the U.S., fell 4.2% as U.S. senators discussed cutting a tax credit for homebuyers. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, fell 2.2%. In Seoul, LG Innotek Co. slumped 8.4% after Credit Suisse Group AG downgraded the stock.
Among shares that gained, Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. surged 7.9% in Tokyo, while Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. added 1.8% after the Nikkei newspaper said both banks will merge in "spring" 2011.
Nippon Yusen K.K. fell 2.5%, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. lost 2.5%.
Kawasaki Kisen more than doubled its net-loss forecast for the year to March 2010. Nippon Yusen widened its full-year loss forecast by more than fivefold, while Mitsui O.S.K. cut its annual earnings target by 93%.
LG Innotek, a maker of mobile-phone components, dropped 8.4%, the steepest decline in two months. Credit Suisse cut its recommendation to "underperform" from "neutral," citing worse-than-expected earnings.
Stocks have rallied since March amid better-than-estimated economic and earnings figures. This month, reports showed an export decline slowed in China and U.S. service industries grew for the first time in a year. Amid signs the global economy is improving, Australia’s central bank unexpectedly raised its benchmark rate on Oct. 6 and has signaled further increases in coming months.
After markets shut, Honda Motor Co., Japan’s number-two automaker, almost tripled its full-year earnings forecast as government stimulus measures spurred demand. Toshiba Corp., the nation’s biggest memory chipmaker, reported a narrower-than-forecast loss for the first half.
CHINA
The Shanghai’s 300 Composite Index slid 99.52 points, or 2.9%, to 3,314.72. Baidu Inc., the operator of China’s biggest search engine, sank 13% in U.S. after-hours trading after forecasting fourth-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan’s Taiex index fell back 11.06 points to 7,657.34
Singapore’s Straits Times index gave back 22.12 points, or 0.8%, to 2,694.50
Korea’s Kospi index retreated 7.58 points, or 0.5%, to 1,649.53
New Zealand’s NZX Index dropped 18.40 points, or 0.6%, to 3,192.47
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 finished 29.10 points, or 0.6%, lower at 4,830.30
