Asian equity markets tumbled Friday as heavy losses on Wall Street and heightened concerns over European sovereign debt prompted a selloff across sectors.
Several regional indexes finished the week at this year's lowest point.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index plunged 298.89 points, or 2.9%, to 10,057.09 -- its biggest percentage drop in more than two months.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled 676.56 points, or 3.3%, to 19,665.08 -- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 3.3% to 19,665.08 -- its first finish below the 20,000-point level since September.
BHP Billiton lost 3.5% and Rio Tinto sank 5% in Sydney, Jiangxi Copper's Hong Kong-listed shares dropped 5.4%, and Korea Zinc shrank 4.8%. In Tokyo, Pacific Metals gave up 3.6%, while among commodity-trading houses, Mitsui & Co. skidded 4.6%.
Energy producers also lost ground after crude-oil futures staged a big retreat Thursday. Australia's Woodside Petroleum fell 3.9%, Japan's Inpex lost 1.3% and Hong Kong-listed Cnooc fell 4%.
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. fell 3.3% in Tokyo, with Lihir Gold 4.2% lower in Sydney and Shandong Gold-Mining Co. down 4% in Shanghai. Shares of SPDR Gold Trust ETF fell 3.8% in Hong Kong, 3.9% in Singapore trading and 5.5% in Tokyo.
In Tokyo, exporters fell sharply, with Mazda Motor Corp. dropping 4.9% and Nintendo Co. falling 4.2%, while Nissan Motor Co. gave up 3.9%.
Sony bucked the market, rising 0.3% after posting better-than-expected results for the fiscal third-quarter after the market closed Thursday. Hitachi was also up on solid third-quarter results, rising 3.3%.
Toyota Motor added 1.1% despite concerns it may have to extend its vehicle recall to its popular Prius hybrid model. Shares were boosted by its announcement Thursday that it swung into the black in the quarter ended December and now expects to post a profit for the full year.
Toyota also raised its earnings forecast for the current fiscal year despite taking a hit from its massive vehicle recalls in Europe and the U.S.
In the foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar rose against the yen, buoyed by speculators covering short positions after sharp falls Thursday. The dollar bought 89.43 yen from 88.94 yen in late New York trade Thursday. The euro fetched 122.22 yen from 122.20 yen, and $1.3665 U.S. from $1.3741 U.S.
Elsewhere:
The Shanghai 300 Composite Index dropped 65.72 points, or 2%, to 3,153.09
Korea’s Kospi Index was 49.30 points, or 3.1%, lower to 1,567.12
Taiwan’s Taiex index stumbled 324.21 points, or 4.3%, to 7,217.83
Singapore’s Straits Times index gave back 61.42 points, or 2.2%, to 2,683.56
New Zealand’s NZX Index surrendered 43.95 points, or 1.4%, to 3,104.99
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 subtracted 107.50 points, or 2.3%, to 4,514.10
