Asian stocks saw earlier gains fade Monday, with several key markets swinging to losses as investors gauged a slew of earnings, as well as new Hong Kong property taxes and a hurricane forcing the closure of U.S. markets.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.2% as property firms tumbled following the introduction of a special tax on housing purchases by offshore and corporate buyers, along with other measures to tamp down on prices. On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index traded down 0.1%.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average moved back from gains to trade down 0.1%, while South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.1%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index .rose 0.4%.
U.S. shares ended Friday’s session little changed but recorded weekly losses, as downbeat earnings offset some more positive news on the U.S. economy. Read story: U.S. Q3 economic growth improves
“For the moment, the main focus is extreme weather conditions due to Hurricane Sandy in the U.S.,” said Kintai Cheung, strategist at Credit Agricole. Read: NYSE, Nymex to close trading floors on Monday.
U.S. markets will remain closed on Monday In anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. New York ordered the shuttering of the city’s subway system Sunday evening, as well as the mass evacuation of hundreds and thousands of residents from at-risk areas of the city. Read: NYC shutting down transit, evacuating 375,000.
“Liquidity may be thinned later today with Hurricane Sandy heading toward New York. It has already lead to widespread power outages and transport disruptions. … The potential economic impact cannot be underestimated,” said Sue Trinh, strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
Residing in calmer waters, Asian investors were once more gauging corporate earnings.
Honda Motor Co. fell 4.3% in Tokyo after the auto giant cut its fiscal-year earnings guidance to 375 billion yen ($4.7 billion) from a prior forecast of ¥470 billion due to lower-than-expected sales and a strong Japanese currency. Read: Honda slashes fiscal-year profit forecast.
Investors pushed rivals lower as well, with Toyota Motor Corp. down 0.8%, and Nissan Motor Co. retreating 2%.
Hyundai Motor Co. dropped 2.7% and Kia Motors Corp. fell 3.5% in South Korea. Kia announced late last week much weaker-than-expected third-quarter results. Read: Kia’s Q3 net profit jumps 28%
NTT DoCoMo Inc , fell 5.9% in Tokyo after the mobile telecom cut its full-year operating profit outlook.
Similarly, Taiwan’s HTC Corp. skidded 7% in Taipei after the firm warned on Friday that it expects its fourth-quarter revenue to fall 41% compared to the year-ago period. Read: HTC expects revenue, margins to fall
Property stocks dropped in Hong Kong, with Henderson Land Development Co. falling 8.1%, New World Development Co. tumbling 7%, and Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. diving down 5.7%.
The heavy losses came after Hong Kong’s government announced a new stamp duty which will require non-Hong Kong residents and companies buying local residential real estate to pay an extra 15%, in addition to other measures aimed at curbing property-price gains.
A likely decline in property transactions resulting from the new measures “will obviously weigh on property stocks” and would also be expected to pressure the Hong Kong stock market, given the property sector’s large weighting, said Deutsche Bank strategists.
Mainland China-listed property firms were also under pressure, with Poly Real Estate Group Co. down 0.9% and Gemdale Corp. lower by 1%.
Gaining ground after updating investors, China Telecom Corp. climbed 2.2% in Hong Kong after it said that its January-September net profit fell 8% due to rising costs but revenue rose 15%. Read: China Telecom Jan.-Sept. net profit slips 8%
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. , also known as Sinopec, gained 3.6% in Hong Kong after its third-quarter net profit fell 9.4% compared to the year-ago period but exceeded analyst expectations. Read: Sinopec net profit falls 9.4% but beats forecasts.
State-controlled China Construction Bank Corp.’s rose 1.2% in Hong Kong after its third-quarter net profit rose 12% from a year earlier. Read: China Construction Bank’ profit beats forecasts.
Japan’s second-largest financial group Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. rose 1.1% after raising its half-year profit forecast late Friday to ¥330 billion from a prior ¥250 billion, citing lower credit costs and gains in bond trading.
Nippon Sheet Glass Co. jumped 5% after the Nikkei business daily reported the firm is expected to post a quarterly loss of around ¥3 billion, which would be better than Nippon Sheet Glass’s current forecast for a quarterly loss of ¥4.5 billion. In the year-ago period, the firm posted a profit of ¥5.5 billion.
NEC Corp. advanced 3.6% after announcing late last week that its second-quarter net profit jumped 38% compared to the year-ago period.
Real-estate firms were higher Monday in Tokyo ahead of a policy decision from the Bank of Japan due out Tuesday, with Mitsui Fudosan Co. up 1.4%, and Mitsubishi Estate Co. higher by 1.2%.
Resource companies were seeing some price gains in Asia on Monday, with Rio Tinto Ltd up 1.5% and energy firm Oil Search Ltd. climbing 2.2% in Australia.
Insurer QBE Insurance Group Ltd. which has operations in the U.S., fell 0.8% in Sydney on Monday, however, with the approach of Hurricane Sandy.
Technology majors offset auto losses in Seoul, with LG Electronics Inc. up 3.4% and SK Hynix Inc. , improving by 1.2%.
Samsung Electronics Inc. rose 0.2%, taking back some earnings-related losses made late last week.
Marketwatch
