Date: Wednesday 30 Jun 2010
Asia markets followed Wall Street’s lead and headed lower on Wednesday, with export focused stocks particularly hard hit after a disappointing set of US consumer confidence figures.The US consumer confidence index slumped from 62.7 to 52.9, compared with expectations of a small decline.
The data sapped demand for Asian-Pacific stocks that earn a substantial proportion of their revenue overseas.
Wal-Mart supplier Li & Fung, car makers Nissan and Honda and camera firm Canon were among the big names being sold off.
Resource stocks were also out of favour as concerns grow that the Chinesse economy will not expand as fast as previously expected.
Australian mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto lost ground, even though negotiations with the Australian government over the controversial proposed resource tax appear to be going well.
Other commodity-related stocks such as Jiangxi Copper and commodities traderMitsubishi also retreated as base metal prices fell in the wake of the announcement by US-based research group The conference board on Monday night that its China leading economic index rose just 0.3% in April, a sharp revision down from its preliminary estimate of a 1.7% rise..
Electronics giant Hon Hai Precision Industry slumped almost 6% after its Foxconnsubsidiary, which makes computer motherboards, mobile phone handsets and numerous other electronics items, issued downbeat profits guidance.
Elsewhere in the tech sector Shin-Etsu Chemical, which makes silicon for semiconductors, dragged its sector down after a broker downgrade.In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 188 points to 9,382 while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng was down 119 points at 20,129.
No comments:
Post a Comment