Asian markets fell Monday after North Korean state television reported the country’s leader Kim Jong-il, had died, leading to immediate concerns of uncertainty at the reclusive county, and prompting South Korea to put its military on emergency alert.
The Nikkei closed down 1.3% at a fresh three-week low. The Shanghai Composite pared declines and closed down 0.3% while the Hang Seng fell 1.2%. The Sensex fell 0.6% while in Sydney the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries dropped 2.5%.
Wall Street closed mixed last week Friday after ratings agency Moody’s lowered Belgium’s credit rating and Fitch also put six euro-zone nations on watch for a possible downgrade.
Stocks on the Move
Stocks were lower across the board as investors showed nervousness about the latest developments in Korea.
In financials, Japan’s big banks lost ground as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial erased 1.2% while broker Nomura Holdings fell 4.3%. Daiwa Securities was down 3.2%.
Some strength in the yen affected exporters such as Panasonic and Toshiba Corp., both down 5% and 2.8% each, respectively.
Index heavyweight Sony was down 3%.
Nissan Motor advanced 2.1% on news it plans to buy back up to 0.3% of its shares and intends to turn subsidiary Aichi Machine Industry Co. into a fully owned unit. Aichi Machine shares shot up 29.7%.
Property shares fared badly in Hong Kong after government data released over the weekend showed China home prices fell in November. China Resources Land and Agile Property Holdings were both down 3.9% and 3.2% each, respectively. Henderson Land Development Co. retreated 2.7%.
Resources also tumbled as China Coal Energy lost steam to close 2.4% lower. Jiangxi Copper melted 2.1% and Aluminum Corp. of China fell 2.9%.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., better known as Sinopec slipped 0.3% on reports that it may buy a stake amounting to 2.7 billion euro in Spanish peer Repsol YPF.
In India, 21 of the 30 Sensex stocks closed in the red. The top loser was L&T, down 4.1%, BHEL, down 3.7%. Other losers included Jindal Steel, DLF, SBI, ICICI Bank, Tata Power, HDFC Bank, Jaiprakash, Maruti Suzuki and Sun Pharma, all down in a range between 1.8% and 3.3%.
The Indian rupee was hovering around 53 to a dollar after appreciating sharply last week from a record low of 54.29 after RBI intervention.
In Sydney, retailers were the worst performers, extending losses from Friday last week when JB Hi-Fi said first-half earnings before interest and tax would fall around 5% below last year's $127 million total.
Stocks slipped again today after retailer Billabong International also said it expects to report a lower full year profit and that it is reviewing its capital structure. Billabong shares plunged 44.2%.
Other retailers also suffered and David Jones shares retreated 9.1% while Wesfarmers slipped 2.6%.
Index leader BHP Billiton sank 2.5% while fellow miner Rio Tinto also dropped 2.6%.
In banks, CBA erased 1.7% while Westpac fell 2.2%. ANZ was down 1.3% while NAB was off 0.4%. Investment bank Macquarie Group lost 2.6%.
