Market Update
Shares in Asia traded lower throughout Friday but slumped in late trade as devastating earthquake hit Japan and neighboring countries, triggering tsunamis across the region.
At close, Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, China's Shanghai Composite, India's Sensex and Australia's ASX declined between 0.8% and 1.2%.
The biggest earthquake in 140 years, measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, hit Japan at mid-afternoon local time, sparking fires and giving rise to tsunamis near the coast with several more areas including as far as New Zealand and the U.S. west coast put on tsunami alert.
The yen fell along with equities--the Bank of Japan said it would be active to ensure financial markets stability. Gold prices went up while oil fell.
The extent of damage--both economic and in human lives--caused by the disaster is yet to be ascertained, while the government in Japan shut down factories, refineries and nuclear plants.
Stocks on the Move
In Tokyo, Sony Corp, which shut down several of its factories, shed 2.2% on the bourses. Automaker Toyota lost 1.5%.
In Hong Kong and China, property, banks and oil stocks lost ground. Henderson Land was 2%, CNOOC fell 2.3% while Bank of China was off 0.9%.
Indian stocks traded flat early on but fell in late trade despite robust industrial production numbers released around mid day.
Metals and telecom stocks were the worst hit: bellwether Bharti Airtel tumbled over 2%.
In Sydney, miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto led the decliners chart, falling 2% and 1%, respectively.