By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) ? Japanese stocks fell sharply Friday in a generally weak session for major Asian markets with investors cautious ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke?s speech.
Japan?s Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/zigman/5986735 JP:100000018 -1.33% ?dropped 1.1%, as South Korea?s Kospi /quotes/zigman/1652118 KR:SEU +0.08% ?slipped 0.2%, and Australia?s S&P/ASX 200 index /quotes/zigman/1653884 AU:XJO +0.04% also traded down 0.1%.
Hong Kong?s Hang Seng Index /quotes/zigman/2622475 HK:HSI -0.30% ?lost 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite Index /quotes/zigman/1859015 CN:000001 -0.01% /quotes/zigman/1859015 CN:000001 -0.01% traded flat as it continued to hover around three and a half year lows.
U.S. stocks joined in with global stock losses Thursday, as investors worried ahead of Bernanke?s speech that central banks won?t step in to support the global economy. Read more on U.S. stocks.
While the Shanghai and Hong Kong indexes are showing month-to-date losses, of 2.4% and 1.5%, respectively, the Nikkei Average has gained 2.2% so far this month, while the Kospi is up 1.1% and the S&P/ASX 200 has gained 1%.
Credit Agricole strategists said that investors were likely to take profits Friday as they remain wary ?ahead of the long-awaited speech by Fed?s Bernanke.?
?Given that a lot of good news has been priced in, risks of disappointment are high, and risk assets will come under heavy pressure in case of any under-delivery on policy easing,? they said.
Michael Gavin at Barclays Capital said that ?markets have been drifting sideways for the past several weeks because they have had little opportunity to learn about policy makers? intentions in a number of critical areas, mainly but not exclusively in Europe.?
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The U.S. military is pivoting to East Asia as territorial flare-ups spread across the region.
?This is likely to remain the case until high-stakes policy announcements arrive,? he said, citing the European Central Bank?s meeting next week as a possible source of just such an announcement.
The Tokyo market came under notable selling pressure after data showed an unexpectedly negative reading on industrial production for July, with the numbers coming on the heels of Thursday?s downbeat retail-sales statistics. Read more on Japanese data.
Japanese firms among the major decliners in Tokyo on Friday included Nikon Corp. /quotes/zigman/195445 JP:7731 -2.88% ? /quotes/zigman/200723/quotes/nls/ninoy NINOY -2.42% ?down 2.8%, Suzuki Motor Corp. /quotes/zigman/197979 JP:7269 -3.51% ? /quotes/zigman/527614/quotes/nls/szkmy SZKMY +3.83% ?lower by 3.4%, and Honda Motor Co. /quotes/zigman/193651 JP:7267 -2.21% , down 2%.
Sharp Corp. /quotes/zigman/197304 JP:6753 -11.45% /quotes/zigman/197313/quotes/nls/shcaf SHCAF -2.67% ?tumbled 9.3% after Taiwan?s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. /quotes/zigman/190672 TW:2317 -1.52% ? /quotes/zigman/215125/quotes/nls/hnhpf HNHPF -5.70% , down 0.8% in Taipei, reportedly said talks to renegotiate its investment in the Japanese firm had yet to reach a conclusion.
Auto-parts maker Denso Corp /quotes/zigman/164266 JP:6902 -3.78% ? /quotes/zigman/164272/quotes/nls/dnzof DNZOF -1.44% ?fell 4.4% while dump-truck and excavator producer Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. /quotes/zigman/529196/quotes/nls/htcmy HTCMY +1.21% ? /quotes/zigman/198746 JP:6305 -2.41% ?lost 2.2% after a downgrade to neutral at MUFJ.
Japanese steel mill owners were also losing ground after a Nikkei report that an influx of inexpensive Chinese steel has forced some Japanese producers to take asset-impairment charges for their mills.
The report cited problems for Nippon Steel Corp. /quotes/zigman/196304 JP:5401 -4.38% ? /quotes/zigman/196313/quotes/nls/nistf NISTF -14.80% , down 3.8%, and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. /quotes/zigman/197855 JP:5405 -4.27% ? /quotes/zigman/197865/quotes/nls/smmlf SMMLF -1.04% , down 3.4%.
The report said that the two firms ? which are due to merge in October ? plan to book a combined 240 billion yen ($3.1 billion) extraordinary charge for April-September and post losses wider than their previous outlooks. Read more on reported headwinds for Japan steel firms.
However, some Australian miners managed to take back some of the week?s steep losses, with Rio Tinto Ltd. /quotes/zigman/176317 AU:RIO +1.21% ? /quotes/zigman/182541/quotes/nls/rio RIO -1.96% ? /quotes/zigman/155899 UK:RIO -2.09% ?up 1% and Mount Gibson Iron Ltd. /quotes/zigman/296817 AU:MGX +4.57% ?up 4.3%.
Property firms were solid performers in Hong Kong after a sharp drop in the previous session, with Henderson Land Development Co. /quotes/zigman/14038/quotes/nls/hldvf HLDVF -4.06% ? /quotes/zigman/14039 HK:12 +1.61% ?and Sino Land Co. /quotes/zigman/14435 HK:83 +0.95% ? /quotes/zigman/134942/quotes/nls/snlay SNLAY +1.06% ?each higher by 1.6%.
Citigroup analysts said Hong Kong?s new land and housing policies, announced late Thursday, were ?relatively mild? and added ?we believe H.K. property stocks may recover.?
The measures, meant to cool rapidly rising real-estate prices in the territory, included plans for 65,000 new residential apartments in the next three to four years.
Insurers were also advancing, with China Life Insurance Co. /quotes/zigman/29330 HK:2628 -0.24% ? /quotes/zigman/336639/quotes/nls/lfc LFC +0.97% ? and Ping An Insurance Co. /quotes/zigman/8216 HK:2318 -0.18% ? /quotes/zigman/372285/quotes/nls/pngay PNGAY -0.69% ?rising 1.2% each.
On the downside in Hong Kong, shipper China Merchants Holdings International Co. /quotes/zigman/12503 HK:144 -2.41% ? /quotes/zigman/12505/quotes/nls/cmhhf CMHHF +2.31% ?fell 2.9% after announcing that it has bought a 50% stake in Togo container-terminal operator Thesar Maritime Ltd. for 150 million euros ($188 million). Read more on China Merchants acquisition.
Among other Hong Kong decliners, Citic Pacific Ltd. /quotes/zigman/14281 HK:267 -5.68% ? /quotes/zigman/295956/quotes/nls/ctpcy CTPCY -3.99% ?lost 3.1%, while Li & Fung Ltd. /quotes/zigman/4522657 HK:494 -2.18% ? /quotes/zigman/529778/quotes/nls/lfugy LFUGY -0.46% ?dropped 1.6%.
In South Korea, a 0.7% advance for LG Electronics Inc. KR:066570 -1.12% ? /quotes/zigman/302529/quotes/nls/lgeiy LGEIY 0.00% was offset by a 0.5% decline for index heavyweight Samsung Electronics Inc. KR:005930 -1.22% ? /quotes/zigman/189458/quotes/nls/ssnlf SSNLF +5.36%
/quotes/zigman/5986735
JP : Nikkei Idx
Volume: 0.00
Aug. 31, 2012 1:57p
/quotes/zigman/1652118 KR : South Korea
Volume: 455.31M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:57p
/quotes/zigman/1653884 AU : Australia: Sydney
Volume: 0.00
Aug. 31, 2012 2:57p
/quotes/zigman/2622475 HK : HangSeng Ind
Volume: 0.00
Aug. 31, 2012 1:02p
/quotes/zigman/1859015 CN : China: Shanghai
Volume: 24.27M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:02p
/quotes/zigman/1859015 CN : China: Shanghai
Volume: 24.27M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:02p
/quotes/zigman/195445 JP : Japan: Tokyo
? 2,157.00
-64.00 -2.88%
Volume: 1.49M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:57p
Market Cap?901.58 billion
Rev. per Employee?38.30M
/quotes/zigman/200723/quotes/nls/ninoy US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 743.00
Aug. 30, 2012 3:59p
/quotes/zigman/197979 JP : Japan: Tokyo
? 1,428.00
-52.00 -3.51%
Volume: 1.47M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:57p
Market Cap?838.21 billion
Rev. per Employee?46.80M
/quotes/zigman/527614/quotes/nls/szkmy US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 200.00
Aug. 22, 2012 2:42p
/quotes/zigman/193651 JP : Japan: Tokyo
? 2,477.00
-56.00 -2.21%
Volume: 2.20M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:57p
Market Cap?4635.45 billion
Rev. per Employee?46.34M
/quotes/zigman/197304 JP : Japan: Tokyo
Volume: 138.45M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:57p
Market Cap?255.46 billion
Rev. per Employee?40.07M
/quotes/zigman/197313/quotes/nls/shcaf US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 2,000
Aug. 30, 2012 9:33a
Rev. per Employee$510,748
/quotes/zigman/190672 TW : Taiwan
Volume: 56.67M
Aug. 31, 2012 12:57p
Market CapNT$987.67 billion
Rev. per EmployeeNT$3.88M
/quotes/zigman/215125/quotes/nls/hnhpf US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 12,996
Aug. 30, 2012 1:37p
/quotes/zigman/164266 JP : Japan: Tokyo
? 2,622.00
-103.00 -3.78%
Volume: 2.17M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:57p
Market Cap?2406.43 billion
Rev. per Employee?27.03M
/quotes/zigman/164272/quotes/nls/dnzof US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 137.00
Aug. 30, 2012 1:48p
Rev. per Employee$343,686
/quotes/zigman/529196/quotes/nls/htcmy US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 1,990
Aug. 14, 2012 2:59p
/quotes/zigman/198746 JP : Japan: Tokyo
? 1,298.00
-32.00 -2.41%
Volume: 1.44M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:57p
Market Cap?293.63 billion
Rev. per Employee?38.59M
/quotes/zigman/196304 JP : Japan: Tokyo
Volume: 46.28M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:56p
Market Cap?1129.96 billion
Rev. per Employee?67.20M
/quotes/zigman/196313/quotes/nls/nistf US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 1,091
Aug. 30, 2012 1:45p
Rev. per Employee$855,531
/quotes/zigman/197855 JP : Japan: Tokyo
Volume: 19.09M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:55p
Market Cap?581.52 billion
Rev. per Employee?65.56M
/quotes/zigman/197865/quotes/nls/smmlf US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 1,000
April 4, 2012 11:12a
/quotes/zigman/176317 AU : Australia: Sydney
Volume: 8.16M
Aug. 31, 2012 2:57p
Rev. per Employee$821,334
/quotes/zigman/182541/quotes/nls/rio US : U.S.: NYSE
Volume: 4.84M
Aug. 30, 2012 4:00p
Rev. per Employee$836,487
/quotes/zigman/155899 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 8.41M
Aug. 30, 2012 4:35p
Market Cap?39.13 billion
Rev. per Employee?527,959
/quotes/zigman/296817 AU : Australia: Sydney
Volume: 7.28M
Aug. 31, 2012 2:57p
Market Cap$808.87 million
Rev. per Employee$917,883
/quotes/zigman/14038/quotes/nls/hldvf US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 15,652
Aug. 30, 2012 3:12p
/quotes/zigman/14039 HK : Hong Kong
Volume: 2.12M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:01p
Market CapHK$116.10 billion
Rev. per EmployeeHK$1.55M
/quotes/zigman/14435 HK : Hong Kong
Volume: 4.30M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:02p
Market CapHK$78.86 billion
Rev. per EmployeeHK$1.87M
/quotes/zigman/134942/quotes/nls/snlay US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 975.00
Aug. 29, 2012 10:38a
Rev. per Employee$239,958
/quotes/zigman/29330 HK : Hong Kong
Volume: 9.29M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:01p
Market CapHK$580.44 billion
Rev. per EmployeeHK$4.32M
/quotes/zigman/336639/quotes/nls/lfc US : U.S.: NYSE
Volume: 237,698
Aug. 30, 2012 4:02p
Rev. per Employee$556,683
/quotes/zigman/8216 HK : Hong Kong
Volume: 5.04M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:02p
Market CapHK$402.06 billion
/quotes/zigman/372285/quotes/nls/pngay US : U.S.: OTCBB
Volume: 33,157
Aug. 30, 2012 3:54p
/quotes/zigman/12503 HK : Hong Kong
Volume: 2.41M
Aug. 31, 2012 1:01p
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B63345D1A-F2F7-11E1-9007-002128049AD6%7D&siteid=rss
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