Market Update
Asian markets ended lower Monday with the Nikkei falling to its lowest intra-day level in two and a half months amid ongoing concerns over growth in the emerging markets.
The Nikkei ended 2% lower after sliding to its lowest level in over two months. The Sensex fell 1.5% while the All Ordinaries slipped 0.1%.
Chinese markets remained closed for public holidays.
Investors traded cautiously after Wall Street and European equities logged losses Friday amid lingering concerns over the recent rout in emerging market assets.
Risk appetite being low, investors preferred the relative safety of bonds and currencies like the yen, which further pressurized stocks in Tokyo.
In Sydney, some economic reports were in focus. According to a survey, the country’s manufacturing index declined to 46.7 in January from 47.6 in December.
New building approvals issued by the government also turned lower by 2.9% in December.
Over the weekend, the Chinese government issued its official reading on the country's manufacturing activity. According to the report, China's official purchasing managers' index fell to 50.5 in January as compared with 51 in December. The reading was in line with expectations.
Stocks on the Move
Stocks in Tokyo were under pressure on account of a stronger yen.
Sony Corp. lost 2.8%. Sharp Corp. fell 2.3% while Panasonic Corp. dropped 3.8%.
Among auto firms, Mazda Motor decelerated 4% while Honda Motor reversed 2.2%.
Softbank Corp. dropped 6.6%, extending its losing streak for the ninth day. NTT DoCoMo fell 3.5%.
On the earnings front, cosmetic manufacturer Shiseido gained 3.9% after the company raised its net profit outlook for the current fiscal year by 27%.
Astellas Pharma fell 1.5% while Mitsubishi Electric Corp. added 0.9% after announcing its results.
In Sydney miners were trading weak after lacklustre data. Index leader BHP Billiton and fellow miner Rio Tinto lost 0.4% and 0.5% each, respectively.
Santos added 1.2% while Woodside Petroleum inched up half a percent, offsetting some of the losses on the resource-heavy benchmark index.
Mumbai stocks also fell, tracking weak sentiment overseas. The top losers on the 30-share benchmark index included metal players, banks and IT players.
Hindalco Industries erased 5.5%. Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, and BHEL were all down over 3% each while Airtel, ONGC, ICICI Bank, HDFC, and SBI were down in a range between 2.3% and 2.9%.