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War, virus put Asia in a spin
TOKYO, Japan -- Asian stocks tumbled to a sharply lower close Monday, the last day of Japan's financial year, as continued uncertainty over the war in Iraq dragged down investor confidence. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average fell a massive 3.71 percent to 7972.71, its biggest drop in five months and a 28 percent decline for the past year. In addition to Iraq-induced jitters, the flu-like SARS virus that is sweeping through the region is having a big impact, particularly for stocks of Asian airlines such as Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific and Taiwan's China Airlines. In South Korea, where Korean Air Lines fell 7.32 percent, the Kospi index matched the Nikkei's decline, falling 3.71 percent to 535.70 Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia were all in the red, with New Zealand managing to move against the trend, closing 0.64 percent higher. The weak showing for Asian markets on Monday follows declines in Europe and the U.S. last Friday, when the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.68 percent and the Nasdaq composite dropped more than 1 percent. (Full story) In Tokyo, the broader Topix index fell 3.66 percent to 788.0 to finish the financial year with a decline of 25 percent. The market's biggest stock, mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, was among the heaviest losers, plunging 7.14 percent to 221,000 yen. Banks and big exporters also fell sharply. Along with the usual end of financial year jitters, investors in Japan digested weaker than expected industrial production figures. Data released Monday shows Japan's industrial production fell 1.7 percent in February from a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis. That was below analysts' expectations of a fall of about 0.9 percent. (Full story) Declines among blue chips were broad-based, with consumer electronics leader Sony down 4.55 percent to 4200 yen and big carmaker Toyota off 6.06 percent to 2635 yen. Honda fell 4.82 percent to 3950 yen. Tech-related stock NEC plunged 6.68 percent to 391 yen. Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Kyocera and Sanyo likewise were sharply lower. Among the big banks, SMFG posted the heaviest fall, off 6.19 percent to 212,000 yen. UFJ Holdings fell 4.84 percent to 118,000 yen and MTFG slipped 3.43 percent to 450,000 yen. South Korea lower
In South Korea, the Kospi finished 3.71 percent lower at 535.70. Of concern to investors was the release Monday of the latest inflation figures, showing the highest rate in 18 months. (Full story) Among blue chips, big chipmaker Samsung Electronics lost 7.49 percent to 284,000 won. Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 6.61 percent to 24,000 won and mobile phone company SK Telecom dipped 2.24 percent to 153,000 won. Shinhan Bank lost 1.9 percent to 10,300 won after announcing its KRIF joint venture fund with Australia's Macquarie Bank had made its first toll road purchase. (Full story) Korean Air Lines dropped 7.32 percent to 9500 won on jitters about inflation and falling passenger numbers from the SARS virus and security concerns. (Full story) In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 fell 0.43 percent to 2885.2. Movements were muted, with Telstra up half a percent and big bank NAB just in the red. The market's biggest stock, media group News Corp., fell 2.36 percent to A$10.77 after announcing a share investment agreement with Liberty Media last Friday. (Full story) Insurer and funds manager AMP dipped again, down 7.27 percent to A$7.02. But gold stocks such as Newcrest, AngloGold and Placer Dome were higher. New Zealand's Top 50 finished at 1931.61, with market heavyweight Telecom NZ up 1.57 percent to NZ$4.52. In Taiwan, the Taiex lost 3.48 percent to 4321.22 as techs followed their U.S. counterparts down. Chip foundry TSMC, the market's biggest stock, fell 4.73 percent to T$42.30. Rival UMC was down 4.46 percent to T$19.30. China Airlines showed one of the heaviest falls on concerns about the SARS virus, ending down 7 percent to T$12.00. In Singapore, the Straits Times was also on the slide, closing down 3.84 percent to 1267.82. Singapore Airlines, another carrier hard-hit by the flu-like virus sweeping the region, is 3.87 percent lower to S$8.70. Big banks DBS, UOB and OCBC are also weaker. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished 2.58 percent lower at 8634.45. Banking leader HSBC fell 1.83 percent to HK$80.25. Airline Cathay Pacific dropped 6.86 percent to HK$9.50 and China Mobile lost 4.04 percent to HK$15.45.
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