Most Asian stocks fell, sending the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index to its third weekly decline in four as a slump in US housing sales triggered concern growth in the world’s biggest economy is faltering.
James Hardie Industries SE, the biggest seller of home siding in the US, declined 2.4 percent in Sydney. Canon Inc, which got about 28 percent of sales in the Americas last year, dropped 6.6 percent in Tokyo. Elpida Memory Inc, the world’s third-biggest maker of computer memory chips, and Tokyo Electron Ltd, the world’s second-biggest market of semiconductor equipment, slumped following brokerage downgrades.
“People are somewhat circumspect about the prospects for global growth,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage about US$1.1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd in Melbourne.
“Doubts about how strong the US recovery is and its trajectory, particularly for the second half of 2010, have increased,” he said.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index dropped 0.5 percent. It has lost 4 percent this year on concern Greece and other European countries will struggle to curb their budget deficits and repay debt.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 3.1 percent, the most among major benchmark indexes in the Asia-Pacific region, as Macquarie Group Ltd, Australia’s biggest investment bank, declined 11 percent after saying increasingly uncertain markets are weighing on some parts of its business.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 2.6 percent as exporters dropped after the yen strengthened for a third week.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.6 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2 percent, bucking the regional decline, after the People’s Bank of China signaled an end to the currency’s two-year-old peg to the dollar one week before a G20 Summit.
Taiwan’s TAIEX index declined 1.5 percent, or 115.18, on Friday to close at 7,474.71, after the central bank on Thursday unexpectedly raised interest rates for the first time since 2008 and told lenders to cap home loans. The index dropped 18.4 points this week.
Taiwanese property stocks declined, with the 35-member construction sub-index dropping 3.7 percent, the most since April 19. Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設), the nation’s biggest property developer by market value, slid 4.8 percent to NT$63, the most since April 19. Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設), the second-largest developer, fell 2.1 percent to NT$11.55, the lowest since June 18.
Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) climbed 4.9 percent to NT$14.05, the most since June 24 last year, after the nation’s financial regulator approved its application to set up a branch in Kunshan, China.
Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技), a maker of computer-memory chips, lost 1.6 percent to NT$4.26 after its board approved plans to sell between 650 million and 800 million new shares locally and overseas, according to its stock exchange filing on Thursday.
Other markets on Friday:
Manila ended 0.55 percent, or 18.49 points, higher from Thursday at 3,352.46.
Wellington slipped 0.50 percent, or 15.36 points, from Thursday to 3,034.11.
Mumbai fell 0.88 percent, or 155.71 points, from Thursday to 17,574.53.
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