Stocks Fall On Widening U.S. Subprime Losses - Asian Commentary []
11/11/2007 9:54:40 PM Monday, Asian stocks declined for a third day, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index plunging to its lowest level of 2007, after reports of subprime losses at U.S. banks pulled the U.S. stocks down and the dollar tumbled against the yen.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 223.55 points or 1.69% to 13,042.74 after Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wachovia Corp. all said the ongoing credit crisis will cause another round of heavy losses during the fourth quarter. Additionally, concerns about the U.S. economy weighed on sentiment after the University of Michigan's preliminary November consumer sentiment index showed its weakest performance since October 2005.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index was down 402.39 points at 15,181.03 and the broader TOPIX index for all First Section issues was down 38.93 points at 1,455.42.
The U.S. dollar fell to the lower 110-yen level in early trade in Tokyo, continuing a decline that began late last week amid deepening concern about the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. At 9:47 a.m. local time, the dollar was quoted at 110.55-110.57 yen, down 2.10 yen from Friday's 5:00 p.m. quotes of 112.65-112.68 yen in Tokyo.
Among major decliners, Mitsubishi Materials plummeted 6.1%, Nippon Steel plunged 4.1% and Nippon Yusen lost 2.7%. Bank and brokerage stocks were also under pressure, with Mizuho Financial Group falling 4.5%, Mizuho Investors losing 5.4%, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shedding 3.1%.Exporters, hit by worries about weaker U.S. demand and the yen's strength, were also down. Toyota Motor dropped 1.6% and Bridgestone slumped 4.2%. Among other automakers, Honda plunged 3.1%, Mazda plummeted 4.8%, Nissan gave away 4.7% and Suzuki slipped 1.7%. In the tech space, Sony and Tokyo Electron lost 2.8% each, NEC plummeted 4.8%, Matsushita Electrical Industrial slipped 1.2% and Advantest dropped 2.0%.
South Korea's KOSPI index was down 62.66 points or 3.2% at 1,927.81.
Samsung Electronics fell 2.2% and LG Philips LCD shed 3.4%. Shipbuilders were hit after China again hiked the reserve requirement for banks. Hyundai Heavy slid 3.5% and Samsung Heavy lost 3.5%. SK Telecom gained 3.4% on speculation that the company may win a majority stake in the nation's second-largest broadband service provider, Hanaro Telecom and its smaller rival, KTF, added 1.1%.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
