Asian markets plunge on financial stocks (MarketWatch) (29-07-2008)

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- The overnight drop on Wall Street after the announced writedowns by U.S. financial companies hurt Asian markets on Tuesday.

Tokyo stocks were also affected by Toyota Motor Corp. after the automobile giant trimmed its 2008 sales forecast, while Nippon Steel Corp. dropped on reports of a fire at its Kitakyushu plant.

The Nikkei 225 Average shrank 2.1% to 13,079.80 and the broader Topix index tumbled 2.1% to 1,273.78.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index shed 2.3% to 22,166.42 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, or the H-share index, lost 2.8% at 12,055.69.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.5% to 4,847.60 and New Zealand's NZX 50 index gave up 0.6% to 3,237.79. South Korea's Kospi lost 2.9% at 1,552.01, Taiwan's Weighted index slumped 3.4% to 6,990.13 and Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 1.3% to 2,873.99.

China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 2.5% to 2,831.54, after rising 1.3% in the previous session.

In Tokyo, shares of Mizuho sank 3.5% and Nomura Holdings Inc. skidded 3.9% ahead of its quarterly results due later in the day, on persistent worries about the health of the U.S. financial and credit markets.

The drop came after Merrill Lynch & Co. said it expects to take a $5.7 billion pre-tax write-down during the third quarter after it sold a big chunk of its U.S. super senior asset-backed security collateralized debt obligations, cutting its exposure in the area by $11.1 billion compared to the end of June. The brokerage also said it plans to raise $8.5 billion by selling new common stock to bolster its capital position. 

Elsewhere in Asia, HSBC Holdings dipped 1.6% and Bank of East Asia lost 3.7% in Hong Kong, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. sank 2.3% in Singapore and Cathay Financial Holding Co. skidded 5.9% in Taipei.

Shares of Kookmin Bank dropped 2.3% in a weak Seoul market, in spite of reporting Monday that that its second-quarter profit more than doubled from the year-ago period on lower taxes and strong growth in loans. Shares of Samsung Securities shrank 5.4%.

In Sydney, lenders extended losses on concerns about the fallout of the global financial markets on the local banking system. Shares of National Australia Bank lost 3.7% and Commonwealth Bank of Australia gave up 4%.

 Source: MarketWatch