Market Update
Shares in Asia ended lower, after the Japanese market sold off early as the nuclear crisis continued to weigh on sentiment and as the yen reached an all-time high against the yen, but the Nikkei pared some losses later as the currency recovered later.
At close, Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, China's Shanghai Composite and India's Sensex ended between 1.1% and 1.8% lower. Across the region, Australia's ASX ended 0.1% down.
Tokyo shares ended the day with smaller losses as the yen turned lower, bouncing off record lows against the U.S. dollar as the Bank of Japan injected more liquidity into the financial markets to stem the currency's rapid recent rise.
But investor sentiment continued to remain on edge as Japanese authorities kept up their efforts to cool down the earthquake-damaged power plants reactors, which have been emanating harmful radio waves, in a bid to avert a nuclear catastrophe in the world's third-largest economy.
Indian stocks were pressured after the country's central bank hiked interest rates by 25 basis points to combat rising prices.
In commodities, gold and crude oil were both trading higher.
Stocks on the Move
In Tokyo, exporter stocks witnessed selling after the yen's searing rise recently led to concerns of lower profits.
Shares in automaker Toyota were of 2.2% while Canon fell 3.3%. Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the crippled nuclear plants currently at the risk of a meltdown after last week's earthquake and tsunami, fell 13%, following up from a 50% fall in the last three days.
In Hong Kong, heavyweight stocks such as HSBC Holdings, down 1.7%, and Cathay Pacific, off 2.9%, pulled the index lower.
Mainland shares declined, led by metals and property plays. Jiangxi Copper dropped 3% while Poly Real Estate declined 2%.
Indian stocks ended at the lowest point of the day after the Reserve Bank of India hiked key rates by 25 basis points to combat rising inflation. Rate-sensitives such as banks ended in the red.
State Bank of India, the country's biggest bank fell 0.9% while private lender ICICI Bank was off 1.4%.
In Sydney, metals and mining stocks saw a sell-off: Fortescue Metals and Newcrest Mining lost 1.1% and 2.2%, respectively.