Asian markets slide on Wall Street losses

Mon. August 25, 2008; Posted: 10:34 PM

(RTTNews) - The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region were trading lower Tuesday after Wall Street tumbled overnight. The U.S. stocks fell after a Credit Suisse analyst cut his price target on American International Group and the National Association of Realtors reported weaker-than-expected existing home sales for July. Crude oil futures continued to rise in the Asian session Tuesday, after the contract settled higher on Monday amid concerns about the Tropical Storm Gustav brewing in the Caribbean.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid 109-yen levels in early Tokyo deals, down from upper 109-yen levels late Monday. The South Korean won fell against the dollar to a fresh four-year low. The won was quoted at 1,082.5 a dollar in early local trade. The Australian dollar opened weaker at seven-month lows of US$0.8626-0.8630, but the kiwi was little changed at US$0.7044 in early local deals.

The Japanese stock market was trading lower, giving away some of Monday's gains. Financial stocks declined on renewed credit concerns, while exporters eased on the back of a stronger yen. At 8.23 P.M. ET, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index was losing 197.99 points or 1.54% to 12,680.67 and the broader Topix Index of all First Section Issues was declining 23.31 points to 1,215.94.

On the economic front, Japan's corporate service price index climbed 1.3% on year in July, posting a score of 95.6, the Bank of Japan said. That came in slightly below analyst expectations of an increase of 1.4% on year, and it was up from the 1.2% annual increase in June. The data also represented the 24th straight month of increase for the index. The index eased 0.1% from a month ago. The index measures corporate prices for communications, transportation and advertising.

Banking stocks were lower on worries about the U.S. financial sector. Mitsubishi UFJ tumbled 3.49%, Mizuho Financial slid 3.03%, Sumitomo Mitsui dropped 3.61% and Resona Holdings dropped 3.55%.

Among export-oriented stocks, electronics giant Sony dipped 3.02%, Canon lost 2.35%, Nikon eased 0.28% and Komatsu declined 1.47%. Automaker Honda gave away 1.39%, Nissan lost 2.34%, Toyota declined 1.02%, Mazda eased 1.25% and Mitsubishi Motors gave away 1.25%.

In the tech sector, Advantest declined 1.78%, Kyocera gave away 1.22%, Fanuc lost 1.96%, Matsushita Electrical Industrial slipped 2.44% and NEC slid 2.40%.

Oil explorer Inpex Holdings declined 1.58% and Nippon Oil gave away 0.91%, while Showa Shell edged up 0.09%. Inpex said on Monday that it decided to build a liquefied natural gas import terminal in northwestern Japan for about 100 billion yen to meet robust growth in LNG demand.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. said it would buy back its own shares worth up to 13 billion yen, or up to 0.5% of outstanding shares, between August 26 and October 23. The company's stock was down 0.32%.

The South Korean market was trading lower, recovering some of the earlier losses. The market opened with a deep cut, as Wall Street's plunge overnight prompted investors to lock in profits. At 9:10 p.m. ET, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI was down 7.6 points or 0.51% at 1,494.51 after the key index closed 0.35% up on Monday, ending a five-day losing streak.

In the tech space, Hynix Semiconductors dropped 1.2% and market heavyweight Samsung Electronics declined 2.0%. LG Display advanced 0.2%, but LG Electronics plummeted 2.4%.

Automaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.0%, but steelmaker POSCO lost 1.4%. Transporters were lower after oil closed slightly higher overnight. Hanjin Shipping slipped 0.3%, Korean Air Lines fell 2.3% and Asiana Airlines declined 1.3%.

In the financial sector, top lender KookMin Bank gained 2.6% and Shinhan Financial Group climbed 0.6%, but Woori Finance gave away 0.7%. Top brokerage Samsung Securities plunged 2.0% and Mirae Asset Securities dropped 1.3%.

The Australian stock market was trading sharply lower, ending a two-day winning streak. At 8:50 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 100 points or 2.00% at 4,915 after closing up 1.7% on Monday. The broader All Ordinaries index was losing 96 points or 1.89% to 5,994.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases data on assets and liabilities of Australian securitizers for June 2008.

Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank lost 2.11%, ANZ Banking Group was down 2.20%, and investment bank Macquarie Group declined 2.63%. Westpac dropped 2.18%, St. George bank fell 2.52% and National Australia Bank slipped 2.57%.

In the resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton dipped 1.20%, and Rio Tinto lost 1.37%. Gold miners were weaker after gold closed lower on Monday. Lihir Gold lost 1.31% and Newcrest Mining declined 1.99%.

Among energy stocks, Woodside dropped 1.29%, Oil Search lost 1.08%, and Santos fell 1.38%.

In the retail sector, David Jones lost 2.76%, Coles owner Wesfarmers dropped 4.82%, and giant retailer Woolworths fell 1.75% after it reported a 26% rise in 2008 profit, helped by cost controls and store makeovers, but said it expects slower profit growth in the current year.

Great Southern Ltd. soared 22% after it proposed reorganizing the company into three separate business streams: forestry, agricultural investment services, and cattle.

Foster's Group rose 2.25% after it reported an 88.4% fall in annual profit after booking writedowns on the value of its wine business. The company said it expects the beer market to remain resilient in the current year. The company also did not provide any guidance.

Bank, insurer and wealth manager Suncorp Metway fell 3.83% after it posted a 47.7% drop in profit to $556 million, hurt by frequent bad weather and choppy markets. However, the company said that it expects better operating environment in the current financial year.

The New Zealand stock market opened lower, as traders awaited the data on July trade performance. The benchmark NZX50 index was down 21.44 points or 0.64% to 3,305.shortly after the market opened for the day. Meanwhile, the NZX All Capital Index fell 19.02 points or 0.56% to 3,353.12.

In Tuesday's economic data news, traders get a look at New Zealand's balance of trade performance for July, which is set for release at 22:45 GMT.

Last month, Statistics NZ reported that the trade deficit for June totaled NZ$223 million, which represented 6.2 percent of total exports. Exports were higher by 30.9 percent thanks to a NZ$261 million increase in crude oil exports. The jump in exports was the biggest, by percentage, of any month since January 2001.

June imports rose 16.9 percent, pushed by a rise of NZ$342 million in petroleum and related products.

In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Tuesday, top ranked Telecom fell 1.19%, while Contact Energy dropped 1.81% after posting a 1% fall in full year net profit to $237.1 million. Fletcher Building, the third best stock, lost 1.37%.

In the retail sector Hallenstein Glasson, jewelry retailer Michel Hill and Warehouse remained unchanged, while Pumpkin Patch fell 1.86%.

In the energy sector Vector remained unchanged, as TrustPower gained 0.13% in the day's early trading.

Among other notable stocks Infratil and Methven remained unchanged. Nuplex dropped 0.80%, as Steel & Tube Holdings collected 0.31%. Sky Network Television gave up 1.04%, as Sky City fell 1.75%. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare slipped 1.68%, as Fisher & Paykel Appliances remained unchanged.

Among dual listed issues AMP, APN News & Media, Lion Nathan and Telstra remained unchanged. Australia and NZ Banking Corp fell 0.67%, while Westpac Bank eased 0.18%.

Other gainers on Tuesday morning were few and included- Air New Zealand by 1.64% and ING Property Trust by 2.63%.

Losers included- Auckland International Airport by 0.50%, Cavalier Corporation by 1.11%, Goodman Fielder by 2.27%, ING Medical Properties Trust by 1.79%, Kiwi Income Property Trust by 0.90%, New Zealand Oil & Gas by 0.67%, NZ Farming Systems by 0.62%, NZX Limited by 0.40%, PGG Wrightson by 2.52%, Ryman Healthcare by 1.12% and Skellerup Holdings by 9.28%.

Other Asian markets:

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.7% at 20,948; China's Shanghai composite index was down 1.8% at 2,370; Singapore's Straits Times index was down1.2% at 2,701; Taiwan's weighted index was down 1.1% at 6,954; and Malaysia's KLCI was down 7.4 points at 1,071.

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