Investing.com – Asian stocks posted sharp declines on Tuesday, as commodity-linked shares and financial sector stocks weighed markets lower, while in Japan exporters led declines amid the rising yen.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.32%, South Korea's Kospi Composite fell 1.16% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 2.09%.
In Japan, many of the big name exporters declined, as the yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar.
Shares in electronic giant Sony Corp. plunged 2.16%, video-game maker Nintendo declined 1.38%, while stocks in Hitachi Ltd. tumbled 1.70%.
Japanese automakers underperformed, as shares in the world’s largest automaker Toyota Motor fell 1.52%, rivals Honda Motor plunged 1.97% and Nissan Motor, which earns more than a third of its sales from North America, lost 1.76%.
In Hong Kong, commodity-linked shares declined as metal and crude oil prices retreated.
Shares in China Shenhua Energy slipped 0.91%, Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. dropped 1.15%, while shares in Cnooc Limited, China’s largest offshore oil producer, plunged 3.69% after its stocks were downgraded by investment bank HSBC Holdings to “neutral” from “overweight”.
Meanwhile, financial stocks underperformed, with banks ending lower amid reports that China’s central bank raised reserve requirements for six of the major Chinese lenders. Shares in the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China fell 1.00%, Bank of China stocks shed 0.71% and HSBC Holdings declined 0.67%.
In Europe, equity markets opened lower. The EURO STOXX 50 was down 0.90%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 1.05%, the FTSE 100 declined 0.88% and Germany's DAX fell 0.69%.
Later in the day, European Central Bank President, Jean-Claude Trichet was to speak at an engagement in New York.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.32%, South Korea's Kospi Composite fell 1.16% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 2.09%.
In Japan, many of the big name exporters declined, as the yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar.
Shares in electronic giant Sony Corp. plunged 2.16%, video-game maker Nintendo declined 1.38%, while stocks in Hitachi Ltd. tumbled 1.70%.
Japanese automakers underperformed, as shares in the world’s largest automaker Toyota Motor fell 1.52%, rivals Honda Motor plunged 1.97% and Nissan Motor, which earns more than a third of its sales from North America, lost 1.76%.
In Hong Kong, commodity-linked shares declined as metal and crude oil prices retreated.
Shares in China Shenhua Energy slipped 0.91%, Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. dropped 1.15%, while shares in Cnooc Limited, China’s largest offshore oil producer, plunged 3.69% after its stocks were downgraded by investment bank HSBC Holdings to “neutral” from “overweight”.
Meanwhile, financial stocks underperformed, with banks ending lower amid reports that China’s central bank raised reserve requirements for six of the major Chinese lenders. Shares in the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China fell 1.00%, Bank of China stocks shed 0.71% and HSBC Holdings declined 0.67%.
In Europe, equity markets opened lower. The EURO STOXX 50 was down 0.90%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 1.05%, the FTSE 100 declined 0.88% and Germany's DAX fell 0.69%.
Later in the day, European Central Bank President, Jean-Claude Trichet was to speak at an engagement in New York.