Major Asian stock markets ended sharply lower Tuesday, with Chinese shares dropping further in Hong Kong and Shanghai amid worries about possible limits on bank lending.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index lost 187.41 points, or 1.8%, to 10,325.28
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost another 489.22 points, or 2.4%, to 20,109.33, ending lower for the 10th time in 11 sessions.
The sharp drop in Taipei came amid worries policy tightening in Shanghai could lower demand for the island's exports, and also on concerns that the Taiwanese central bank itself may pursue monetary tightening sooner-than-expected in the wake of strong economic data.
Official figures released Monday showed Taiwan's industrial output jumped by a record 47.3% in December from the year-earlier month.
Shares of Chi Mei Optoelectronics slumped 5.9% and Cathay Real Estate Development sank 6.9%, while Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. gave up 4.2%.
The losses in Tokyo, meanwhile, came after the country's central bank kept its policy rate unchanged, as the decision gave investors "a go-ahead with selling more," according to one expert.
The yen, which strengthened during the session, hurt shares of exporters, though the currency's gains reversed after ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut its outlook on Japan's long-term sovereign debt rating to negative from stable after the market's close.
Shares of Honda Motor Co. lost 2.7% and Hitachi shed 5.9%, while Sony Corp. sank 4.8% in Tokyo.
Despite major U.S. tech companies Apple and Texas Instruments posting better-than-expected earnings results Monday, many tech counters around the region lost ground.
In Seoul, Hynix Semiconductor plummeted 9.4% on growing concerns no bidder will emerge to buy a stake in the company by the Jan. 29 deadline for preliminary bid.
Hong Kong-listed Foxconn International Holdings dropped 8.7%, extending a six-session, 19.7% decline, after the company issued a warning it expects fiscal 2009 net profit to show a "significant decline" from 2008's net profit of $121 million U.S.
KDDI, Japan's number-two cable-television company by subscribers, dropped 8.6% after the company offered to buy a 38% stake in the country's number-one player, Jupiter Telecom, from Liberty Global for $4 billion U.S. in a deal seen as expensive by analysts.
In foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar fell as low as 89.52 yen and the euro dropped as low as 126.11 yen during the session, before recovering in the wake of S&P's lowered outlook.
The dollar was at 90.01 yen from 90.24 yen in late New York trade Monday. The euro was at $1.4087 U.S. from $1.4162 U.S., and at 126.79 yen from 127.79 yen.
CHINA
Chinese shares fell across sectors in Hong Kong on growing concerns over bank lending restrictions. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China ordered its branches in Beijing Friday not to issue any new loans for the rest of January, whereas China Citic Bank Corp. suspended new lending in Shanghai since last week because its local operation has used up the monthly quota for new loans in the city.
The Shanghai 300 Composite Index jettisoned 85.22 points, or 2.6%, to 3,242.80
Shares of ICBC lost 3.4%, Bank of China fell 3.4% and Aluminum Corp. of China gave up 5.3%, while Geely Automobile Holdings sank 6.2% in Hong Kong; in Shanghai, ICBC lost 0.8%, with Poly Real Estate Group Co. shedding 4.8% and Air China shrinking 5%.
Elsewhere:
Korea’s Kospi Index was 32.86 points, or 2%, lower to 1,6373.34
Taiwan’s Taiex index plummeted 274.18 points, or 3.5%, to 7,598.81
Singapore’s Straits Times index subtracted 71.38 points, or 2.5%, to 2,740.33
New Zealand’s NZX Index actually gained 20.41 points, or 0.6% to 3,209.06
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was off for a holiday.
