(RTTNews) - The markets in Asia ended the trading session Friday in negative territory as traders turned apprehensive about the impact of China’s policy to clamp down on property markets in an effort to stop overheating. Following the unimpressive results from Google, traders preferred to lock in gains and move to the sidelines ahead of key earnings from Bank of America and General Electric. In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei-225 Index dropped 171.61 points, or 1.52%, to 11,102, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues was down 10.06 points, or 1.01%, to 989. Steel stocks led the decline on profit taking. JFE Holdings declined 2.88%, Pacific Metals shed 1.36%, Sumitomo Metal Industries lost 2.83%, Kobe Steel fell 2.69% and Nissan Steel was down by 2.04%. Electric stocks also ended in negative territory. Tokyo Electron declined 2.74%, Fanuc Ltd slipped 1.52%, Kyocera Corp. shed 1.68%, TDK Corp. fell 2.18%, and Mitsumi Electric Co. plunged 3.74%. Exporters also ended weaker on stronger local currency as it impacts the revenues realized in local currency terms on realization. Canon Inc. declined 1.36%, Sony Corp. shed 1.76%, Sharp Corp. fell 1.76%, and Panasonic Corp., lost 2.11%. Shipping stocks ended in negative territory. Mitsui OSK Lines edged down 0.14%, and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha slipped 0.26%. Nippon Yusen remained unchanged from previous close. Mixed trading was witnessed among real estate stocks. Sumitomo Realty & Development edged down 0.05% and Heiwa Real Estate plunged 2.67%. Tokyu Land Corp remained unchanged from previous close. However, Mitui Fudosan added 0.06% and Mitsubishi Estate advanced 0.49%. Banks also ended in negative territory. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial fell 1.20%, Resona Holdings lost 1.89%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial shed 0.58% and Mizuho Financial slipped 0.53%. In Australia, the bench mark S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 17.20 points, or 0.34% to close at 4,985, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 5,007, representing a loss of 16.80 points, or 0.33%. Energy related stocks led the gains following drop in crude oil prices in the international market. Woodside Petroleum fell 1.64%, Santos Ltd slipped 1.70%, Oil Search shed 0.34% and Origin Energy lost 1.14%. Mixed trading was witnessed among the mining and mineral stocks as well. BHP Billiton declined 0.80%, Rio Tinto slipped 0.47%, Fortescue Metals shed 0.74%, Gindalbie Metals plunged 5.63%, Mincor Resources fell 0.89%, and Oz Minerals lost 2.37%. Macarthur Coal surged 8.25% on expectation that a revised offer will be made by Peabody Energy to acquire the former. Mineral Resource climbed 3.46%, while Iluka Resources remained unchanged from previous close. Gold stocks managed to end in positive territory. Lihir Gold gained 1.02% and Newcrest Mining rose 1.35%. Bank stocks ended in negative territory. ANZ Bank lost 1.08%, National Australia Bank shed 0.28% and Westpac Banking slipped 0.21%. However, Commonwealth Bank of Australia bucked the trend and ended in positive territory with a gain of 0.93%. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Sang Index plunged 1.32% or 292.56 points, and closed at 21,865, on fears that China’s move to clampdown overheating property market in the country might impact the market. As many as 37 of the 42 components in the index ended in negative territory with traders preferring to lock in gains from the recent rally and move to the sidelines ahead of key earnings and economic data in the U.S. Property stocks, resource stocks and china-related resource stocks ended sharply lower. Unimpressive results from Google that released results in the previous session in the U.S. also impacted market sentiment. In South Korea, the benchmark KOSPI Index ended in negative territory with a loss of 9.81 points, or 0.30%, and closed at 1,734 on profit taking and weak trading across other markets in the region. Speculation that neighboring North Korea might have an hand in the recent sinking of a ship also impacted market sentiment in the trading session that witnessed relatively lesser volume of shares. In India, the markets ended in negative territory with modest losses on global economic concerns as well as speculation that the Reserve Bank of India might be increasing interest rates early next week when the credit policy meeting takes place. Profit taking in oil & gas, technology and power companies led the decline partly offset by gains in FMCG companies. The benchmark BSE Sensex declined 48.08 points or 0.27% to 17,591, while the broader NSE-50 slipped 11.00 points, or 0.20%, to close at 5,263. Among the other major markets open for trading, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 34.66 points, or 1.10%, to close at 3,130,, Singapore’s Strait Times Index declined fell 9.75 points, or 0.32%, at 3,007, Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index lost 21.86 points or 0.75% at 2,879, and Taiwan’s Weighted Index plunged 60.37 points, or 0.74%, to 8,112. For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Source