Asian shares lower as economy, eurozone weigh

HONG KONG—Asian stock markets lost ground on Wednesday despite strong performances from automakers in Japan after a report that quake-hit production could return to normal earlier than expected.

Regional markets were following a lead from Wall Street, where tech plays were hit and uninspiring data on home sales left traders gloomy, while eurozone debt concerns are also adding to worries.

Tokyo ended 0.57 percent, or 54.29 points, off at 9,422.88 and Seoul closed 1.26 percent, or 25.89 points, lower at 2,035.87.

Sydney shed 0.95 percent, or 44.1 points, to close at 4,584.7. Shanghai ended 0.91 percent, or 25.32 points, lower at 2,741.74, with ongoing concerns over a possible slowdown in China’s economy weighing on sentiment.

However, Hong Kong pared earlier losses and ended flat, edging up 16.50 points to 22,747.28. However, Swiss commodities giant Glencore ended lower on its debut in the city following an equally uninspiring beginning in London on Tuesday.

Japanese automakers were doing their best to lift the mood of the markets.

Manufacturers were badly hit by the supply chain ructions caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but the Nikkei newspaper said swift improvements could see Toyota’s production back to 90 percent by next month.

Toyota closed up 2.16 percent, Honda rose 1.32 percent, Nissan climbed 1.28 percent and Denso, a major Toyota supplier, gained 0.21 percent.

However, after the market had closed Toyota denied the report, saying there was no change to its goal of 70 percent by June.

Overall the Nikkei index was weighed by technology stocks, which were dragged by weakness in their US counterparts.

The problems were compounded for Sony by the disclosure after markets closed Tuesday that security at its Greek unit had been breached with 8,500 users affected.

Hideyuki Ishiguro, an equity strategist at Okasan Securities, said the markets may not punish the company too much because the scale of the hack was small compared with the 100 million user accounts affected by earlier attacks on the company’s PlayStation Network and other online entertainment services.

“But Sony’s global image may be damaged further if these attacks continue, even if on smaller scale,” he told Dow Jones Newswires.

In a further setback to the company, Sony Ericsson’s Canadian eShop website was also hit, a company spokesman said Wednesday, adding 2,000 users had been affected.

Investors largely shrugged off official data released shortly before the opening bell showing that Japan plunged into a trade deficit in April as exports tumbled 12.5 percent year on year due to supply chain problems.

The world’s third-largest economy logged a deficit of 463.7 billion yen ($5.6 billion) in April, reversing a year-before surplus of 729.2 billion yen.

The deficit, however, was smaller than the market average forecast of 700 billion yen.

Shanghai remained concerned over the Chinese economy after data this week suggested manufacturing was slowing, which follows several moves by Beijing to keep a lid on growth and inflation.

“The overall mood in the market is one of concern for the domestic economy. Investors are uncertain about whether Beijing will relax its monetary policy, and this is taking place against a background of a brewing crisis in Europe,” said Soochow Securities analyst Zhu Haomin.

In Hong Kong Glencore fell 2.5 percent to end at HK$64.90 as it was hit by general market sluggishness. It ended 0.84 percent lower on its first day in London.

The dual listing, which raised about $10 billion, is the biggest initial public offering in the world this year and values the firm at about $60 billion.

Despite the sluggish start, Glencore Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg said he remained upbeat.

“We are still bullish with commodities and the strength in the commodities market,” he told reporters at the firm’s listing ceremony in Hong Kong.

“At the end of the day, the demand for commodities still continues robustly.”

He rejected suggestions the weak start was tied to a recent dip in commodities prices.

US stocks closed down Tuesday as two banks predicted oil prices will rise to $130 a barrel and data showed the market for new homes remained weak.

The Dow fell 0.20 percent, the broader S&P 500 gave up 0.08 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.46 percent.

The euro fell against the dollar in Asia, weighed by profit-taking following an overnight gain and amid lingering concerns over Greece’s debt problem. Sentiment has also been hurt by an outlook downgrade for Italy and questions over Spain’s future as it struggles to rein deal with mounting debt troubles.

The euro retreated to $1.4051 in Tokyo afternoon trade from 1.4100 in New York overnight. The unit also fell to 115.35 yen from 115.50.

The dollar edged up to 82.10 yen from 81.91.

Investors moved to lock in profits after the euro rose overnight in the wake of German data showing growth broadened with stronger domestic demand in Europe’s biggest economy.

On oil markets New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, was down 97 cents at $98.62 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for the same month dipped $1 to $111.53 in the afternoon.

Gold closed in Hong Kong at $1,523 -$1,524 per ounce, up from Tuesday’s close of $1,519-$1,520.

In other markets:

— Singapore closed up 0.18 percent, or 5.56 points, at 3,118.65.

Keppel Corp gained 0.72 percent to Sg$11.22 while City Developments fell 0.18 percent to Sg$11.00.

— Taipei fell 0.34 percent, or 29.52 points, or 8,727.09.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.4 percent lower at Tw$74.5 while leading smartphone maker HTC shed 0.85 percent to Tw$1,160.

— Manila closed 0.85 percent, or 36.10 points, lower at 4,190.98.

Alliance Global shed 5 percent to 10.24 pesos and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was off 2.5 percent at 70.05 pesos.

— Wellington slipped 0.15 percent, or 5.18 points to 3,554.37.

Telecom rose 2.1 percent to NZ$2.485 while Fletcher Building fell 0.9 percent to NZ$9.12 and Warehouse Group dipped 0.3 percent to NZ$3.65.

— Jakarta fell 0.15 percent, or 5.78 points, to 3,780.16.

Bank Mandiri shed 2.1 percent to 6,950 rupiah, while Bank Rakyat Indonesia lost 0.8 percent to 6,150 rupiah.

— Kuala Lumpur ended flat, edging up 1.45 points to 1,533.57.

Telekom rose 2.6 percent to 3.90 ringgit and IOI Corp added 1.5 percent to 5.33 but Tenaga Nasional dived 5.1 percent to 6.16 ringgit.

— Bangkok edged down 0.82 percent, or 8.70 points, to 1,055.54.

Banpu gained 18 baht to 742 baht, while PTT lost 4 baht to 348.

— Mumbai closed down 0.91 percent, or 164.73 points, at 17,847.24.