Asian markets

Asian markets ended lower Thursday, with the strong yen hurting exporters in Tokyo while capital-raising worries and a disappointing Hong Kong debut for China Minsheng Banking Corp. hurt Chinese banks. The Nikkei 225 Average fell 0.6% to 9,383.24, China's Shanghai Composite tumbled 3.6% to 3,170.98 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1.8% to 22,210.41. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3%, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.8% and Taiwan's Taiex dropped 0.2%. In afternoon trading, India's Sensex was down 2.1% and Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 1.1%. In Tokyo, auto and technology stocks fell after the U.S. dollar dropped to a 14-year low against the yen. Shares of Toyota Motor fell 1.2%, Canon Inc. declined 2.1% and Sony shed 1.9%. "This yen strengthening is caused by dollar selling rather than yen buying, so this is not something Japan can handle by itself," said Mizuho Securities senior technical analyst Yutaka Miura. "This trend will continue unless the Japanese government takes action, in cooperation with the U.S." News of Dubai asking for a creditor standstill at Dubai World and Vietnam's currency devaluation increased investors' aversion to risk. Andrew Sullivan, a sales trader at Main First Securities, said the regionwide decline in markets is likely only a temporary correction, given improving economic data on exports. "The macro picture of U.S. recovery and restocking is going to show you that there's an increase in the short-term exports out of Asia to do that restocking. Hence, it'll be unlikely that Asian markets collapse while exports are actually rising," he said. Vietnam's VN Index tumbled 4.1% to 482.6, after the nation's central bank devalued the currency by around 5% against the U.S. dollar and raised interest rates by a percentage point to 8% from Dec. 1. Chinese stocks fell sharply during the session, with banks again taking some harsh treatment amid worries regulators may beef up capital requirements, forcing banks to sell shares to raise funds. "We're in the period when we're still waiting for signs of policy change from Beijing," with Chinese leaders set to meet in the next few weeks to decide on next year's economic blueprint, said Huatai Securities analyst Chen Huiqin. Bank of China fell 2.9%, China Construction Bank dropped 3.6% and China Citic Bank Corp. gave up 1.7% in Hong Kong, extending a two-session losing streak; in Shanghai, the stocks fell 3.5%, 3.4% and 3.3%, respectively. On its trading debut, China Minsheng Bank lost 3.1% from its initial public offering price of 9.08 Hong Kong dollars, reflecting sector weakness, to end at HK$8.80. Minsheng's Shanghai-listed stock tumbled 5.7% on the disappointing Hong Kong debut, which came in spite of the IPO being heavily oversubscribed. Helping to narrow regional losses, gold and mining stocks got a fillip after the yellow metal logged yet another record high, boosted by continued weakness in the U.S. dollar. "There are also hopes for solid long-term demand as the governments of China, India and other newly emerging economies are trying to raise their gold holdings," said Credit Suisse analyst Shinya Yamada. In Sydney, Newcrest Mining rose 2.8% and Lihir Gold tacked on 0.6%. In Hong Kong, Zhaojin Mining Industry rose 1.2% and Shandong Gold-Mining added 2% in Shanghai, while Sumitomo Metal Mining added 1.7% in Tokyo. Separately, liquid crystal display stocks rallied on hopes that Innolux's recent purchase of Chi Mei Optoelectronics will spur further industry consolidation. AU Optronics rose 2.4% and Chunghwa Picture Tubes gained 3.8% in Taipei, while LG Display added 0.2% in Seoul. Hynix Semiconductor rose 1.1%, aided by news that its creditors have decided to send invitations seeking bids for their combined 28% stake in the chipmaker on Dec. 20. Elsewhere, New Zealand's NZX 50 rose 0.4% and Philippine shares advanced 0.8%. Indonesia's benchmark index fell 2.8% and Thailand's SET Index lost 1.4% in afternoon trading. In foreign-exchange markets, the euro and U.S. dollar struggled against the yen. The euro was recently at 131.04 yen from 132.25 yen late in New York, and at $1.5086 from $1.5143 late in New York. The U.S. dollar was at 86.83 yen recently, from 87.33 yen. Earlier, the U.S. unit dropped to 86.29 yen, its lowest level since 84.92 yen marked on July 7, 1995. The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds fell 1.5 basis points to 1.280%, while the lead December JGB futures contract closed at 139.50, up 0.15 point. Spot gold continued its record run, touching a high of $1,195.10 a troy ounce, before slipping back. It was recently at $1,184.40, down $7.70 from New York levels. RBS head of precious metals Charles Dowsett said news of Sri Lanka's central bank buying 10 tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund was a sign of reserve diversification. "The economic news from the U.S. is still bad, so it's prudent for central banks to diversify dollar holdings," he said. January Nymex crude oil was 95 cents lower at $77.01 per barrel. U.S. markets are closed Thursday, and will reopen Friday. -Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4140; markettalk@dowjones.com TALK BACK: We invite readers to send us comments on this or other financial news topics. Please email us at TalkbackAsia@dowjones.com. Readers should include their full names, work or home addresses and telephone numbers for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit and publish your comments along with your name; we reserve the right not to publish reader comments. 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