SYDNEY (MarketWatch)--Asian stock markets ended lower Friday as investors were disappointed the fiscal union pact for the 17 euro-zone members emerging from the European Union leaders summit didn't manage to achieve unanimous backing for treaty changes. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the summit's agreement between the 17 euro-zone countries and six other EU states on tighter fiscal rules offered a "good basis" for a fiscal compact in the region. But he added, "we came to conclusions that will have to be fleshed out in coming days," highlighting that EU leaders remain deeply divided over key elements of their crisis strategy. "It is still unclear how these new fiscal rules will be enforced," said Simon Furlong at Spreadex. "So it seems we find ourselves in a very familiar situation regarding the EU--one of uncertainty," he added. Stock markets were already under the hammer before the latest news on the fiscal union pact, after Draghi dashed market hopes Thursday for expanded government bond buying by repeating earlier messages that the bank's program of government debt purchases is "neither infinite nor eternal." "Draghi's dismissive view prompted profit-taking in stocks that had gained previously on higher expectations," said Hideyuki Ishiguro, supervisor of investment strategy at Okasan Securities in Japan. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended down 1.5%, Australia's S&P/ASX fell 1.8% and South Korea's Kospi lost 2.0%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 2.7%, while China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.6%. India's Sensex was down 1.1% in afternoon trade. Lower-than-expected inflation data from China failed to provide much of a sentiment boost around the region, despite hopes for further policy loosening, as it also spurred concerns over growth in the world's second-largest economy. China's consumer price index for November rose 4.2% on-year, compared with expectations for a 4.4% rise and October's 5.5% increase. "The low CPI may be slightly beneficial to the market, but the key factor is monetary policy; we may have to wait for December data early next year for a clearer sign of Beijing's intentions," said Hongyuan Securities analyst Tang Yonggang in China. Around the region, growth-sensitive exporters and resources stocks were lower, with energy plays sold off after crude oil futures posted their largest decline in three weeks Thursday. In Tokyo, Sony dropped 3.3%, while LG Electronics fell 4.1% in Seoul and Acer lost 1.6% in Taipei. Energy plays Woodside Petroleum and Santos shed 3.1% and 1.5% respectively in Sydney, while S-Oil fell 3.5% in Seoul and Cnooc lost 3.5% in Hong Kong. Semiconductor-related stocks also lost ground in Tokyo after Texas Instruments lowered its fourth-quarter guidance as concerns about the broader economy led to weaker demand. Tokyo Electron fell 1.9% and Advantest lost 3.0%. Among other chip plays, Hynix Semiconductor lost 3.0% in Seoul and TSMC fell 2.9% in Taipei. Financial stocks around the region were also hard-hit, tracking declines Thursday in their U.S. counterparts. China Minsheng Banking fell 2.2% in Hong Kong and 1.3% in Shanghai. Daiwa Securities lost 3.4% in Tokyo, Hana Financial shed 2.0% in Seoul, National Australia Bank was down 2.4% in Sydney and DBS Group fell 1.5% in Singapore. AMP outperformed the Sydney market, falling just 2 cents to A$4.30, after its funds management unit AMP Capital Investors formed an alliance with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. that will see Mitsubishi paying A$425 million for a 15% stake in vehicle AMP Capital Holdings. -Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4140; markettalk@dowjones.com TALK BACK: We invite readers to send us comments on this or other financial news topics. Please email us at TalkbackAsia@dowjones.com. Readers should include their full names, work or home addresses and telephone numbers for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit and publish your comments along with your name; we reserve the right not to publish reader comments.

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