Market Update
Markets across the Asian region were trading between 1%-2% lower, following weak cues from Wall Street Friday, and renewed concerns about debt worries in Europe.
At the time of writing, Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, India's Sensex and Australia's ASX fell 1.4% to 1.8%. China's Shanghai Composite dropped 2.8%.
Ratings agency Fitch cut Greece three levels to B+, four steps below investment grade from BB+. Standard & Poor's cut its ratings outlook for Italy's debt from stable to negative on Saturday although with an A+ rating, it still remains on much better ground than Greece.
Two US retailers, Gap and Aeropostale, also cut their profit forecasts for the current fiscal, contributing to the weakness in the markets.
Stocks on the Move
In stock-specific movements, all sectors were equally punished as Tokyo Electric Power led the fall on the Nikkei, losing 8.2%. Auto major Honda was down 1.8% after the company announced its workers would take 14 days off because of parts shortages, but added the loss would be made up later this year. Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Kobe Steel were down 5.6% and 4.9% respectively. Isuzu, Mitsubishi and Suzuki Motor were off 1% to 3%.
In Australia, almost all sectors were in the red with mining majors BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals all down between 1.5% and 2%. Bank stocks declined as well with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank erasing between 1.5% and 3.5%.
Elders dropped over 7% after weak results. The company posted a loss of $14.6 million in the first half and also cut its estimates for the full year.
In India, banking, metal and auto stocks declined the most while engineering major Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and state-run oil major GAIL fell ahead of their results today.
Major losers were Reliance Infrastructure, down 2%, while Tata Motors, HDFC Bank and Bank of Baroda lost 3% each.
Chinese stocks declined after a joint report by HSBC Holdings and Makrit Economics showed Chinese manufacturing fell to its lowest level in 10 months, adding to concerns of slowing economic growth. PetroChina Co slid 2.3%. Real estate companies witnessed selling--Poly Real Estate dipped 1.5%--as China increased money-market rates. Jiangxi Copper Co was down almost 4% while Zhuzhou Smelter Group, China's largest producer of refined zinc, fell 5.1%.