Asia Market Report

Asia: Nikkei skids to five month low

Date: Monday 24 May 2010

The Nikkei tumbled to a five month low on Monday on fears about the impact of Europe’s debt problems on the global economy.

Investors shied away from exporters, in particular, however financials did well tracking gains amongst US peers.

Canon was down 0.40%, Sony lost 0.45% while Honda declined 0.35%. Advantest Corp was down 0.2% at 2,063 yen while Nikon Corp slid 1.7%.

Mizuho Financial rallied 3.12% in Tokyo after the US Senate approved President's Obama's bill to overhaul the US financial markets.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 26 points at 9,758 in Tokyo.

The Hang Seng rose 0.6%, reversing an earlier decline, with real estate enjoying the biggest gains on speculation that China will not tighten monetary policy as much as feared in light of Europe’s debt crisis.

Shares in China Resources Land surged 7.5% in Hong Kong. China Overseas Land & Investment rallied 5.4% and Sun Hung Kai Properties added 1.6%.

Banks were mostly higher with ICBC up 2.19% and Bank of China adding 1.52%.

The Hang Seng index rose 116 points to 19,662.