By Michael Kitchen and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Most Asian stocks declined on Friday as fears that the European debt crisis was deepening outweighed positive U.S. economic indicators and hopes for strong U.S. jobs data later in the day.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average
/quotes/zigman/5986735 JP:NIK
-1.16%
closed 1.2% lower at 8,390.35, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
/quotes/zigman/2622475 HK:HSI
-1.17%
dropped 1.2% at 18,593.06 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
/quotes/zigman/1653884 AU:XJO
-0.26%
declined 0.8% to 4,108.50.
South Korea’s Kospi
/quotes/zigman/1652118 KR:0100
-1.45%
dropped 1.1% to 1,843.14 and Taiwan’s Taiex gave up 0.2% to 7,120.51.
“The bond auctions in Europe are still weighing on the minds of investors,” said Louis Capital Markets’ head of Japanese equities Ben Collett, referring to an increase in borrowing costs for the French and Italian governments Thursday.
China’s property slowdown spreads to other sectors
China’s intervention in the property market may be going too far, as the home furnishing sector is now feeling the pinch.
The Shanghai Composite
/quotes/zigman/1859015 CN:000001
+0.70%
gained 0.7% to 2,163.39, staging a rebound from its 34-month closing low a day earlier.
Mainland Chinese stocks advanced as energy producer PetroChina Co. jumped after Beijing raised a threshold for a so-called windfall tax, effectively reducing tax payments for oil producers. Banks and resource stocks also climbed after hefty losses recently, although many property developers declined on Chinese bourses.
PetroChina Co.
/quotes/zigman/21986 HK:857
+2.31%
/quotes/zigman/257868/quotes/nls/ptr PTR
-1.65%
/quotes/zigman/1876553 CN:601857
+1.63%
shares climbed 1.6% and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec,
/quotes/zigman/22837 HK:386
+1.85%
/quotes/zigman/269314/quotes/nls/snp SNP
-1.75%
/quotes/zigman/287863 CN:600028
+0.81%
added 0.8% in Shanghai.
Shares of China Construction Bank Corp.
/quotes/zigman/1876229 CN:601939
+1.53%
/quotes/zigman/529424 CICHY
-0.57%
added 1.5% and Jiangxi Copper Co.
/quotes/zigman/332900 JIXAY
-0.66%
/quotes/zigman/1867813 CN:600362
+1.74%
rose 1.7%, while Poly Real Estate Group Co.
/quotes/zigman/1873491 CN:600048
-0.92%
shed 0.9%.
In Hong Kong, shares of PetroChina added 2.3% and Sinopec climbed 1.9%, while Cnooc
/quotes/zigman/29647 HK:883
+3.01%
/quotes/zigman/274848/quotes/nls/ceo CEO
-0.86%
advnaced 3%.
See report on China oil-tax change.
In a note Friday, Citigroup said the tax change should boost PetroChina earnings by 16%, and those of Cnooc and Sinopec by about 10% each.
See report on Citi analysis of oil-tax change.
But those gains in Hong Kong were far outweighed by losses in financial and other shares amid worries over Europe, and despite optimism about the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for December due later on Friday.
See U.S. jobs report preview.
Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC
/quotes/zigman/13834 HK:5
-1.98%
/quotes/zigman/207333/quotes/nls/hbc HBC
-1.26%
fell 2%, while Ping An Insurance Group Co.
/quotes/zigman/372285 PNGAY
-2.61%
/quotes/zigman/8216 HK:2318
-4.51%
lost 4.5% in Hong Kong. Financials also weakened elsewhere, with National Australia Bank Ltd.
/quotes/zigman/181126 AU:NAB
+0.17%
/quotes/zigman/181125 NAUBF
+1.02%
dropping 1.4% in Sydney, KB Financial Group Inc.
/quotes/zigman/525922/quotes/nls/kb KB
-2.57%
/quotes/zigman/1719468 KR:A105560
-1.66%
losing 1.6% in Seoul and Chinatrust Financial Holding Co.
/quotes/zigman/1568623 TW:2891
-3.32%
shed 3.3% in Taipei.
Louis Capital’s Collett also cited disappointment after the White House denied speculation that the U.S. was considering a massive trillion-dollar mortgage-refinance program for the day’s losses.
See report on White House denial.
“I think we’re seeing some mid-market selling because there was a lot of excitement about rumors” of such a package, he said. “We opened far too optimistically this morning.”
Japanese exporters with large exposure to Europe were among the market casualties Friday, as the euro
/quotes/zigman/4868097/sampled EURJPY
0.0000%
lost further ground against the Japanese yen overnight, falling below the ¥99 level.
Sony Corp.
/quotes/zigman/197500 JP:6758
-2.04%
/quotes/zigman/197524/quotes/nls/sne SNE
-1.47%
lost 2% and Advantest Corp.
/quotes/zigman/191696 JP:6857
-3.29%
/quotes/zigman/191701 ADTTF
-0.21%
dropped 3.3%, while Nissan Motor Co.
/quotes/zigman/196473 JP:7201
-2.17%
/quotes/zigman/202910 NSANY
-2.46%
gave up 2.2%.
Several energy stocks moved lower after benchmark crude oil futures lost ground overnight on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Japan Petroleum Exploration Co.
/quotes/zigman/334930 JP:1662
-1.47%
/quotes/zigman/334935 JPTXF
+2.00%
dropped 1.5% in Tokyo, and Santos Ltd.
/quotes/zigman/181202 AU:STO
-0.65%
/quotes/zigman/181201 STOSF
+1.27%
fell 0.4% in Sydney.
Shares of Samsung Electronics Co.
/quotes/zigman/189555 SSNGY
0.00%
/quotes/zigman/189457 KR:A005930
-1.63%
fell 1.4% in a downbeat Seoul market, failing to find support from its fourth-quarter outlook of a 73% rise in operating profit.
See report on Samsung Electronics’ earnings outlook.
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-1.66%
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1,345.00
-28.00
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3,015.00
-45.00
-1.47%
Volume: 156,200
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Volume: 56,931
Jan. 9, 2012 9:30a
Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch’s Hong Kong bureau.
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Asia Markets: Asia stocks see losses grow as day wears on
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