Asian markets mostly down after Wall St losses

An investor looks at the stock price monitor at a private securities company in Shanghai, China, on April 8, 2013. Asian stock markets mostly fell Thursday, April 18, 2013, after losses on Wall Street, while dealers were also put off by a warning from Germany’s central bank that Europe’s debt crisis could continue for a decade. AP PHOTO/EUGENE HOSHIKO

HONG KONG—Asian markets mostly fell Thursday after losses on Wall Street, while dealers were also put off by a warning from Germany’s central bank that Europe’s debt crisis could continue for a decade.

Gold edged up slightly but traders remain bearish on the precious metal, which suffered its heaviest loss in 30 years on Monday after disappointing Chinese economic growth data.

Tokyo fell 1.22 percent, or 162.82 points, to 13,220.07, Seoul shed 1.24 percent, or 23.78 points, to 1,900.06 and Sydney slipped 1.60 percent, or 80.2 points, to 4,924.4.

Hong Kong lost 0.26 percent, or 57.15 points, to end at 21,512.52 and Shanghai ended 0.17 percent, or 3.80 points, higher at 2,197.60.

US markets suffered their second big fall in three days Wednesday, pulled down by a dive in Apple shares.

Apple fell 5.5 percent to below $400 for the first time since late 2011 after one of its US suppliers slashed its profit guidance, which analysts said indicated slow iPhone and iPad sales.

Adding to the downbeat sentiment in New York was Bank of America’s below-forecast earnings for the January-March quarter.

The Dow fell 0.94 percent, the S&P 500 dropped 1.43 percent and the Nasdaq lost 1.84 percent.

On forex markets, the dollar was trading at 98.36 yen in Europe trade, against 99.19 yen in New York late Wednesday.

The euro fetched $1.3057 and 128.45 yen, against $1.3033 and 127.97 yen.

In Europe, Jens Weidmann, head of Germany’s Bundesbank and a member of the European Central Bank’s council, said in an interview that the region’s debt woes could last for another 10 years.

“Overcoming the crisis and the crisis effects will remain a challenge over the next decade,” Weidmann told the Wall Street Journal.

Commodities resumed their recent slide fueled by Monday’s Chinese data that showed the economy grew 7.7 percent in the January-March first quarter, slower than the previous three months and below expectations.

The figures raised doubts about the country, a key driver of global growth and the biggest energy consumer in the world.

Gold rose to $1,394.10 an ounce at 1040 GMT, compared with $1,383.90 late Wednesday in Asia and is well up from the two-year lows around $1,340 seen on Monday, when it slumped 10 percent—its biggest fall since 1983.

It had also suffered a fall of around five percent on Friday.

“The whole drama started last Friday with the start of the move in gold, and since then it’s been like a contagion spreading across the markets,” said Ker Chung Yang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

“China’s growth just added to the misery, as people are accepting they’re not going to get 8.0 percent (economic growth) in the next couple of quarters.”

Oil prices rebounded, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, up $1.00 at $87.66 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for June rising $1.31 to $99.00.

In other markets:

— Singapore rose 0.15 percent, or 4.91 points, to close at 3,296.37.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. gained 0.28 percent to Sg$10.82 and Singapore Airlines climbed 0.65 percent to Sg$10.83.

— Taipei fell 0.23 percent, or 17.72 points, to 7,791.35.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. edged down 0.10 percent to Tw$99.9 while leading smartphone maker HTC rose 3.68 percent to Tw$282.0.

— Manila closed 0.10 percent higher, adding 7.22 points to 6,857.48.

LT Group rose 5.21 percent to 24.20 pesos while Megaworld Corp. ended up 4.32 percent at 4.10 pesos.

— Wellington closed 0.81 percent, or 36.16 points, down at 4,442.10.

Contact Energy was down 4.55 percent at NZ$8.44, Air New Zealand fell 1.03 percent to NZ$1.45 and Telstra was up 1.2 percent at NZ$2.49.

— Jakarta climbed 0.28 percent, or 13.99 points, to 5,012.64.

Car maker Astra International rose 1.31 percent to 7,750 rupiah, while cigarette maker Gudang Garam fell 2.55 percent to 51,650 rupiah.

— Bangkok added 0.54 percent, or 8.23 points, to 1,529.76.

Airports of Thailand rose 5.00 percent to 136.50 baht, while telecoms company Advanced Info Service gained 3.86 percent to 269 baht.

— Kuala Lumpur slipped 0.28 percent, or 4.71 points, to 1,706.26.

UEM Land Holdings fell 2.5 percent to 2.76 ringgit while Genting Malaysia lost 1.9 percent to close at 3.70. Bumi Armada rose 2.3 percent to 4.03 ringgit.

— Mumbai rose 1.52 percent, or 285.3 points, to 19,016.46.

Tata Motors added 3.98 percent to 282.3 rupees, while Bharti Airtel rose 4.65 percent to 299.45 rupees.—Danny McCord