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Japan leads Asia's decline
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian markets closed lower Tuesday, led down by Japan's first decline in six days. Big banks were mixed in Tokyo, with Mizuho Holdings losing almost 7 percent but smaller rival UFJ Holdings up 4.35 percent. Japanese carmakers and selected technology stocks also weakened. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average ended back below the 8,900 mark it crossed Monday, with a 1.35 percent drop to 8,823.99. The broader Topix index closed 1.19 percent lower at 864.00, with investors giving a tepid welcome to the big banks' plans to deal with their bad loans. (Full story) Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan dipped about 1 percent, Australia lost 0.85 percent and New Zealand eased about 0.6 percent. South Korea was also off, the Kospi losing half a percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended down 1 percent, and Singapore closed down slightly more than that. Asian markets saw no boost from Monday's gains by U.S. stocks. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.51 percent higher at 8,849.40, with Nasdaq up 0.9 percent. (U.S. roundup) Banks fail to impressIn Tokyo, Mizuho slipped 6.87 percent to 122,000 yen after the world's largest bank by assets predicted loan-loss charges of 1.04 trillion yen this year, leading it to a net loss. (Full story) All in all, the Big Four said they'd take a combined hit of 2.6 trillion yen ($21.6 billion) to write off bad loans this year.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. ended flat at 391 yen and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group eased 0.14 percent to 709,000 yen. Analysts said there is little new in their plans. The lone gainer was UFJ, up 4.35 percent to 120,000 yen after it said it will transfer 1 trillion yen to a subsidiary that it is setting up, which will also seek outside investors. (Full story) Among automakers, Toyota Motor Corp. added 0.32 percent to 3,180 yen after its chairman said it had not ruled out financial support for UFJ. Nissan dropped almost 3 percent to 956 yen, Mitsubishi Motors fell 4.35 percent to 242 yen and Honda eased 1.3 percent to 4,560 yen. Sony Corp., the world's largest electronics maker, finished just in the red, down 0.19 percent to 5,380 yen as it confirmed it will close its audio plant in Indonesia and cut 1,000 jobs. (Full story) Tire maker Bridgestone Corp. lost 1.59 percent to 1,612 yen after the company said it would build a tire plant in Thailand. (Full story) The yen firmed to 121.79 late in Asia's day, after weakening to 123.19 in New York trade. Sydney slides as Qantas fallsIn Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index finished 0.85 percent lower at 3,015.4, with big caps like News Corp. and BHP Billiton slipping. News lost 2.7 percent to A$12.24 and BHP fell 2.2 percent to A$9.70 on uncertainty over the strength of the U.S. economy. Similarly, MIM Holdings was off 1.34 percent to A$1.47.
Flagship airline Qantas ended 2.28 percent lower at A$3.85, giving back all of Monday's gain after it said it will buy a 22.5 percent stake in Air New Zealand. Telecom company Telstra Corp. was down 1.35 percent to A$4.38, with its slumping stock price likely to mean a delay in the government's plan to privatize its majority stake. (Full story) In New Zealand, the Top 40 closed down 0.59 percent to 1,945.80, with Air New Zealand down 7.14 percent to NZ$0.52. It surged 12 percent the day before as Qantas confirmed its buyin, likely to reshape Asian aviation. (Full story) Telecom New Zealand recovered from earlier losses to end up 0.21 percent to NZ$4.72. HSBC hurting Hang SengIn Hong Kong, the Hang Seng finished down 0.99 percent to 10,000.58. Its largest listing, bank stock HSBC, is a hefty drag on the market with a 1.38 percent slip to HK$89.50. It is still being roiled by suggestions of a hitch in its deal to buy U.S. lender Household International. Oil and gas producer CNOOC closed down 1.5 percent to HK$9.85 after it granted contracts worth $830 million to Japanese companies to help build its gas venture with Shell. (Full story) It was a good day for telecoms, on a day of few gainers. Fixed-line phone company PCCW was up 1.42 percent to HK$1.43, still feeling the benefits of last week's announcement that it plans to fire 529 workers to help cut costs. Nasdaq's sustained rally helped China Unicom up 0.85 percent to HK$5.90 and China Telecom up 1.41 percent to HK$1.44. First Pacific put on 3.95 percent to HK$0.79 after its Philippines unit Metro Pacific sold out of a big development project in Manila. (Full story) Taiwan runs out of steamTaiwan ran out of steam after rising in morning trade. The Taiex finished 0.96 percent lower at 4,677.89 after going as high as 4,772.36 earlier in the day on a brief recovery by financial stocks. They had tumbled on Monday after the finance minister resigned. Industrial stocks stayed in the black, with strong gains by Taiwan Cement and Asia Cement. But techs were generally lower, with Au Optronics down a sharp 5.77 percent to T$24.50. The market's biggest stock, TSMC, lost 2.88 percent to T$50.50 and rival chip foundry UMC fell 2.94 percent to T$26.40. Chipmaker Macronix topped the volume with a 4.26 percent climb to T$13.45. Korea slipsSouth Korea's Kospi fell 0.51 percent to 702.27. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics was flat at 378,500 won and smaller rival Hynix Semiconductor lost 4 percent to 465 won as it awaits a likely third bailout from lenders. Kookmin Bank dropped 3.1 percent to 40,600 won. The country's largest lender said Monday it will issue 10.6 million shares to Goldman Sachs investment bank, which is converting debt to equity. Carmaker Hyundai Motor put on 2.11 percent to 33,800 won and SK Telecom fell 2 percent to 247,000 won. In Singapore, the Straits Times ended down 1.28 percent at 1,405.27, with banking leader DBS Group down 3.42 percent to S$11.30. Rival banks OCBC and UOB also lost 1.9 and 1.6 percent respectively. Creative Technology fell 1.38 percent to S$14.30, while Datacraft Asia dropped 1.4 percent to $0.70.
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