Most Asian markets retreated in light trading Monday, shadowed by a weak economic outlook for 2009, with Japanese stocks lower as exporters such as Canon Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp. declined after advancing during the previous two sessions. Hong Kong and Australian shares wavered as markets reopened for the first time since Wednesday, although energy-related stocks such as Cnooc and Woodside Petroleum climbed on a strong rebound in crude-oil prices. China's Shanghai Composite dropped for a sixth straight session, 1.1% to 1,830.97, on concerns about earnings growth and the deteriorating economic situation. "Investors in China are still pessimistic about the overall economy, especially after the [European Union] economy entered a recession," said Castor Pang, strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial. "Most Chinese enterprises are expected to have a difficult year in 2009." Japan's Nikkei 225 Average dropped 0.6% to 8,687.32 and the broader Topix index fell 0.1% to 846.15. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.2% to end the morning session at 14,205.25, while Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gained 0.5% to 7,720.91, after moving in both directions. In a note to clients, ICEA Securities cited mainland media reports as saying that as of Dec. 24, about 562 firms had published their earnings forecasts for the year, with at least 14% predicting a fall in profit and about 23% forecasting losses. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 3,597.90, after giving up most of its early gains and briefly dipping into the red, and New Zealand's NZX 50 index edged up 0.4% to 2,677.64, as trading resumed after a holiday-extended weekend. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.8% to 1,097.49, Taiwan's Taiex gave up 0.6% to 4,397.79 and Singapore's Straits Times Index advanced 0.7% to 1,737.96. India's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, lost 1.2% to 9,213.36 in early trading. Insurance stocks surged in Tokyo after the Nikkei business daily reported Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings, Aioi Insurance Co. and Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co. were in talks to integrate their operations by next autumn. Mitsui Sumitomo stock jumped 6% and Nissay Dowa spiked 11.5%, while Aioi soared 15.8%. Shares of NEC Corp. climbed 6.3% on another Nikkei report the technology company and Nissan Motor Co. were expected to invest 100 billion yen ($1.11 billion) or more to make large-capacity lithium-ion batteries to equip around 200,000 electric and hybrid vehicles a year in 2011. Nissan stock rose 0.6%. Several exporters dropped on concerns about the impact on earnings from weakening global demand. Toyota Motor fell 0.9% and Canon lost 2.4% in Tokyo, while Hynix Semiconductor tumbled 5.2% and Samsung Electronics dropped 2.7% in Seoul. The drop in Hynix shares came after ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut the chipmaker's corporate credit and unsecured debt ratings on Friday "to reflect the extremely challenging market situation and the rapid deterioration in the company's financial risk profile." In the energy sector, Inpex shares jumped 5.6% and commodities trader Mitsubishi Corp. gained 2.2% in Tokyo. Cnooc added 3.2% in Hong Kong, while Woodside Petroleum advanced 4.2% in Sydney. February crude-oil futures climbed as much as $1.37 to $39.08 a barrel in electronic trading, after finishing $2.36 higher at $37.71 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. dollar bought 90.49 yen in Asian currency trading, compared with 90.67 yen Friday. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 8,515.55 and the S&P 500 Index advanced 0.9% to 872.80, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.4% to 1,530.24.

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