SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Asian stock markets were mostly lower Thursday, with resources and energy stocks struggling amid falling commodity and crude prices, as downbeat U.S. economic data rekindled investor concerns about the pace of the global economic recovery.
A below-view U.S. durable goods orders reading Wednesday added to the recent string of uninspiring U.S. and Chinese economic data, prompting many investors to reassess their investment decisions.
"With demand from the developed world uncertain, and concerns over China's hard landing not going away, emerging market assets are under pressure," said Sebastien Barbe, strategist at Credit Agricole, in a note
Oil was also in focus Thursday after a surprise build-up in U.S. oil inventories to a seven-month high and reports of potential strategic oil releases dented crude oil prices.
"Although the oil price retreat led to some decline in equities, once the dust settles it could increase risk sentiment if traders believe strategies are in place to stop oil rising to growth-crippling levels and to deal with supply constraints from Iran," Justin Harper, market strategist at IG Markets Singapore said in a note.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.7%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.1% and South Korea's Kospi Composite lost 1.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.2%, while China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.2% and India's Sensex was 0.9% lower.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down five points in screen trade.
The stock market in China continued to struggle after growth worries sent the Shanghai Composite tumbling 2.7% Wednesday to its lowest closing level in two months. "The market may continue to pull back in the short term without supportive policies from Beijing," said Central China Securities analyst Zhang Gang. Among the biggest losers, Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group dropped 3.4% and Jiangxi Copper fell 2.3%.
Energy and commodity plays underperformed across the region following Wednesday's decline in crude oil and copper prices. In Seoul, SK Innovation fell 1.2% while Oil Search tumbled 1.6% and Fortescue Metals lost 1.7%in Sydney; In Tokyo, Inpex lost dropped 1.6% and Sumitomo Metal Mining was 1.8% lower, while Cnooc fell 3.3% in Hong Kong, and Olam declined 0.8% in Singapore.
May Nymex crude futures, which dropped 1.8% Wednesday, were recently down four cents at $105.37 per barrel on Globex. Copper was recently up 0.2%, staging a mild recovery after Wednesday's selloff.
Regional airline stocks mostly benefited from weaker crude prices though, with Korean Air up 2.2% and Asiana Airlines 0.6% higher in Seoul, while Air China gained 0.7% in Hong Kong and Qantas rose 0.6% in Sydney.
Leighton tumbled 7.5% after slashing its annual profit guidance by about a third citing problems with two troubled projects in Australia.
Japanese exporters were lower as the yen rose on safe-haven flows amid the depressed mood; Tokyo Electron fell 2.5%, Sony lost 1.6% and Toyota Motor gave up 1.7%.
In Hong Kong, shares of Sun Hung Kai Properties were put on a trading halt, pending the release of a potentially price-sensitive statement. Last week, Sun Hung Kai's long-serving executive director Thomas Chan was arrested by Hong Kong's antigraft body in connection with a bribery investigation. The stock fell 1.5% to HK$111.10 before trading was suspended at 0151 GMT.
In foreign exchange markets, on top of the poor sentiment driving demand for the yen, fiscal year-end repatriation flows also benefited the Japanese currency. "The dollar-supportive factor of higher U.S. interest rates has waned as now the U.S economic recovery is being questioned," said Minori Uchida, senior analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
The dollar was at Y82.66 against the Japanese currency, from Y82.90 late Wednesday in New York, while the euro was down at Y110.16, from Y110.36. The single currency was at $1.3326 against the dollar, from $1.3317.
Spot gold was at $1,611.40 per troy ounce, down 70 cents from its New York settlement on Wednesday.
-John Phillips, Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4142 ; john.phillips@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.
