By V. Phani Kumar and Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Asian markets retreated Tuesday as lingering
uncertainty over the U.S. fiscal outlook and the next tranche of
financial aid to Greece prompted a fresh wave of selling, hurting
resource stocks and financials in particular.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
AU:XJO
-1.53%
and China’s Shanghai Composite Index
CN:000001
-1.51%
each skidded 1.5%, Taiwan’s Taiex
XX:Y9999
-1.81%
stumbled 1.8%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
HK:HSI
-1.13%
fell 1.1%.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average
JP:100000018
-0.18%
fell the least among major benchmarks, ending down 0.3%, but extended
its streak of losses to seven sessions as the country’s weak economic
outlook pressured sentiment. South Korea’s Kospi
KR:SEU
-0.59%
also surrendered early gains to slide 0.6%.
The drop in Shanghai and Hong Kong came even as markets awaited the
once-in-a-decade leadership changes at the Communist Party Congress,
currently in session.
In Hong Kong, PetroChina Co.
PTR
+1.00%
CN:601857
-1.37%
HK:857
-1.93%
lost 1.9%, and China Coal Energy Co.
HK:1898
-2.39%
CN:601898
-1.57%
CCOZY
-0.70%
dropped 2.4%. In Shanghai, they declined 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively, while Zhongjin Gold Corp.
CN:600489
-2.73%
sank 2.7%.
In Taipei, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
TW:2330
-1.10%
TSM
+0.52%
slid 1.1%, and Inotera Memories Inc.
TW:3474
-4.41%
sank 4.4%.
In Seoul, the key shipbuilding sector extended recent sharp losses, as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.
KR:042660
-4.59%
surrendered 4.6% and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co.
KR:010620
-2.20%
retreated 2.2%.
Among major Asian financial names, Westpac Banking Corp.
AU:WBC
-2.17%
WEBNF
+1.32%
gave up 2.2% in Sydney, Nomura Holdings Inc.
JP:8604
-0.35%
NMR
-0.56%
lost 0.4% in Tokyo, KB Financial Group Inc.
KB
-0.30%
shed 0.8% in Seoul, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.
IDCBY
+0.08%
HK:1398
-1.78%
CN:601398
-1.03%
lost 1.8% in Hong Kong and 1% in Shanghai.
QBE Insurance Group Ltd.
AU:QBE
-7.46%
QBEIF
-7.06%
plunged 7.5% in Sydney on a string of broker downgrades after it issued a profit warning.
On the upside in Sydney, shares of Incitec Pivot Ltd.
AU:IPL
+3.78%
ICPVY
-11.44%
rallied 3.8%. The firm posted a 24% drop in annual profit, but its key
explosives business nonetheless managed a pre-tax gain.
Read: Incitec Pivot profit drops on fertilizer weakness
.
In Tokyo, Olympus Corp.
JP:7733
+5.87%
OCPNF
-11.14%
jumped 5.9% after the company swung to a larger-than-expected profit in the fiscal second quarter.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles.
