Asia stocks drop on euro zone fears; Nikkei falls 1.15%
Investing.com
Published Sep 14, 2011 02:46AM ET
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index sank 1.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.15%.
Asian equities initially opened higher, tracking overnight gains from Wall Street and amid signs of progress in resolving the euro zone debt crisis.
But stocks erased gains after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo said that developed countries “must put their own houses in order” and not rely on bailouts from China.
The Nikkei closed at a two-and-a-half year low as shares in the nation’s largest lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 1.8%, while rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group slumped 1.6%.
Shares in Japanese exporters with high exposure to Europe also contributed to losses. The world’s largest digital camera maker Canon saw shares tumble 4.1%, while automaker Nissan saw shares fall 1.4%.
On the upside, plasma television maker Sharp saw shares jump 3.3% after forecasting that its sales in Indonesia will rise 27% to JPY58.5 billion this year.
Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, shares in lenders led losses, tracking their global counterparts lower. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China saw shares plunge 6.4%, Bank of China Hong Kong shares tumbled 3.4%, while Hong Kong-listed shares of HSBC holdings fell 1.1%.
Meanwhile, the outlook for European stock markets was sharply lower after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the credit ratings of two of France’s three largest banks, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole.
Markets were also awaiting a conference call planned between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou later in the day.
The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a drop of 1.7%, France’s CAC 40 futures dropped 1.85%, the FTSE 100 futures retreated 0.8%, while Germany's DAX futures indicated a loss of 1.5%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release government data on producer price inflation and retail sales, while U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was to speak.
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Written By: Investing.com
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