Volatile Asia slips on U.S. jobs
(CNN) -- Asian stocks closed mainly lower Monday after a volatile day's trading, responding to weak jobs data from the United States.
Wall Street's sharp fall on Friday, along with concerns about the economic outlook and uncertainty over oil prices weighed on the market.
Japan dropped sharply in early trade, but then recovered a little, with both the Nikkei 225 and the broader Topix closing about half a percent lower.
South Korea, which was down a third of a percent in the morning, ended with a gain of 1 percent.
Taiwan finished flat, Australia lost 0.6 percent and New Zealand ended about 0.27 percent lower.
Hong Kong is up slightly, while Singapore's market was closed for a national holiday.
The dollar is down against the Japanese yen, trading at 110.29 yen in Tokyo late in the Asian day.
The Nikkei 225 stock average finished down 0.58 percent to 10,908.70. On Friday the index lost 0.8 percent.
The broader Topix index of all first section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 0.5 percent to 1101.57. The Topix fell 0.87 percent Friday.
Tokyo stocks were lower as wary investors weighed rising oil prices and the gloomy U.S. jobs data. (Full story)
Big exporters such as Sony and Canon fell 1.6 percent and 1.1 percent respectively. Hitachi ended 2.3 percent lower to 655 yen and other tech-related stocks such as Toshiba, Fujitsu, Kyocera and Sharp posted falls of up to 3 percent.
Among automakers, Nissan slipped 0.7 percent, but Honda and Toyota came back from early losses to finish in the black. NTT DoCoMo, another market heavyweight, ended 1 percent lower to 188,000 yen.
Among the big banks, UFJ Holdings was up 3.5 percent to 442,000 yen after suitor Sumitomo Mitusi Financial Group said it offered a 500 billion yen ($4.5 billion) merger proposal. (Full story)
But SMFG lost 1.4 percent to 626,000 yen and rival MTFG was 0.6 percent lower to 928,000 yen. Mizuho lost 0.7 percent.
In South Korea, the Kospi closed 1.11 percent ahead to 742.13. Samsung Electronics slipped 0.12 percent lower to 419,000 won. But big exporter Hyundai Motor was up strongly, putting on 2.3 percent to 46,050 won.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 ended down 0.61 percent to 3509.2. News Corp fell early, but finished with a loss of just 0.17 percent to A$11.46.
AXA Asia Pacific, which jumped 18 percent Friday after parent AXA unveiled a possible $2.2 billion buyout of minority shareholders, was down 1 percent to A$3.86. (Full story)
Big resources stocks BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both ended about 1.5 percent lower.
New Zealand's Top 50 closed down 0.27 percent to 2756.76 after setting a record high last Thursday. Telecom NZ was down 0.16 percent to NZ$6.06.
In Taiwan, the Taiex finished flat, up 0.01 percent to 5399.45. Chip foundry TSMC slipped 1.6 percent to T$43.30.
Wall Street ended last week deep in the red. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.48 percent to 9815.33 on Friday, while the Nasdaq composite index lost 2.46 percent to 1776.89. (Full story)
