By COLIN NG And WEI-ZHE TAN in SingaporeAnd V. PHANI KUMAR in Hong Kong
Most Asian markets ended lower Wednesday, with Chinese shares dragged down on worries about the nation's slowing economic growth and rising inflationary pressure.
The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.9% to 2741.74 for its fifth straight day of losses. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6% to 9422.88, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 1% to 4584.7, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.3% to 2035.87 and India's Sensex slipped 0.9% to 17847.24.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index escaped the trend, barely, ending 0.1% higher at 22747.28.
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"The overall mood in the market is one of concern for the domestic economy," said Soochow Securities analyst Zhu Haomin. "Investors are uncertain about whether Beijing will relax its monetary policy, and this is taking place against a background of a brewing crisis in Europe."
China State Construction Engineering slid 1.9% and China Construction Bank fell 1.2% in Shanghai, while ZTE fell 3% in Shenzhen.
Japanese heavy-machinery makers, which export to China, were also pressured by the weakness in the Shanghai market. Komatsu was off 1.6% and Hitachi Construction Machinery dropped 2.2%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 24 points in electronic trading; the average has been down for three straight days.
"One could hardly say that risk was back on," said Khoon Goh, senior economist at ANZ Bank in Wellington. "Instead, it looks more like a tentative recovery but one lacking any confidence."
Worries over Chinese demand for commodities resulted in a weak debut in Hong Kong for Swiss commodities trading giant Glencore International. The stock finished 2.5% below its initial public offering of 66.53 Hong Kong dollars (US$8.55).
Gains for some Japanese car makers restricted losses in Tokyo, after the Nikkei reported that Toyota Motor planned to bring back domestic auto production next month to as much as 90% of targets set before the March 11 earthquake, citing swift improvements in parts supplies. It also reported that the car maker now hopes to normalize production earlier than its previous November or December forecast.
Toyota rose 2.2%, helping drive Nissan Motor 1.3% higher. Denso Corp., a major Toyota supplier, gained 0.2%.
South Korean car makers outperformed the broader market in Seoul, though not enough to show gains: Hyundai Motor ending unchanged and its affiliate Kia Motors slipped 0.3%. They benefit from easing worries over disruption in parts deliveries after worker protests at a key supplier, Yoosung Enterprise, were ended by riot police late Tuesday. Yoosung on Wednesday said production had partly resumed.
"Any bullish trend for stocks looks unlikely, at least until mid-June, due to a lack of momentum, but the index has fallen enough to reflect recently-renewed euro-zone debt worries," said Hyundai Securities analyst Oh On-su.
Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan's Taiex finished 0.3% lower, New Zealand's NZX 50 lost 0.2%, Philippine shares slid 0.9%, Indonesian stocks lost 0.2% and Thailand's SET index fell 0.8%.
Singapore's Straits Times index went its own way, rising 0.2%.
In foreign-exchange markets, the euro fell against the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen. Worries about sovereign-debt problems in the euro zone periphery, Moody's warning that any Greek debt restructuring could hurt credit ratings of other European governments and Greek opposition lawmakers' rejection of the country's new austerity plans continued to crimp the common currency.
The euro was at $1.4043 from $1.4100 in late New York trade Tuesday, and at ¥115.34 from ¥115.55. The dollar was at ¥82.12 from ¥81.96.
Lead Japanese government bond futures were up 0.07 at 140.89 points, while the yield on the 10-year cash JGB was flat at 1.120%. Deutsche Securities strategist Makoto Yamashita expects sluggish JGB trade, due to caution ahead of Thursday's 20-year bond sale.
Spot gold was at $1,522.60 per troy ounce, down $3.50 from its New York settlement Tuesday. July Nymex crude-oil futures were down $1.18 at $98.41 per barrel on Globex.
