Asian stocks fell this week, dragging down a regional benchmark index by the most since August last year, as an earthquake shook Japan in the final minutes of trading on Friday and conflict escalated in the Middle East.
Chiyoda Corp, a Japanese contractor that gets almost half of its sales from the Middle East, sank 6.2 percent this week in Tokyo. Air China Ltd (中國國際航空), China’s No. 1 international carrier, lost 2.8 percent in Hong Kong. Tokio Marine Holdings Ltd, Japan’s second-largest casualty insurer, retreated 7.6 percent.
“The quake and fires in Tokyo only added to the regional bearish sentiment, sending the Nikkei into a tailspin for the close as Tokyo brokers canceled orders and staff left buildings,” said Gavin Parry, managing director of Parry International Trading Ltd in Hong Kong. “It’s even more uncertainty that could weigh on markets.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 3.1 percent to 135.03 this week, its biggest drop since the week ended Aug. 13 last year. The gauge rose 1.9 percent last week as better-than-estimated economic data from South Korea to the US eased concern about surging oil prices following tension in North Africa and the Middle East.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 4.1 percent this week, extending declines in the final 14 minutes of trading following the magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck at 2:46pm yesterday.
Taiwan’s TAIEX closed at 8,567.82 on Friday, shedding 216.58 points, or 2.5 percent, for the week.
Market analysts expected share prices and volume to undergo further corrections within a limited range in the short term and they said a key indicator next week would be whether the TAIEX remained above the recent low of 8,470 points on Feb. 25.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 4.5 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.7 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI declined 2.5 percent.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has almost doubled in the past two years. It sank to an eight-year low on March 9, 2009, following the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc in September 2008. Shares in the index traded at 13.6 times the estimated earnings on average at Friday’s close of trading in Asia, the lowest level since last September.
In other markets on Friday:
Manila fell 0.90 percent, or 35.59 points, from Thursday to 3,924.35.
Wellington fell 0.69 percent, or 23.39 points, from Thursday to 3,382.84.
Mumbai fell 0.84 percent, or 153.89 points, from Thursday to 18,174.09.
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