Japan's Nikkei average slid below 10,000 to a three-week closing low today as a strong yen hurt exporter shares and weak US data renewed worry about global economic growth, sparking a broad sell-off on Wall Street.
Japan Airlines rose nearly 3 per cent on news that transport minister Seiji Maehara would brief about plans to revive the struggling carrier after the close today.
Analysts said that the unexpected fall in US sales of newly-built single family homes in September, which followed a fall in consumer confidence data, raised worry about third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data, due out today.
In active trade, the benchmark Nikkei lost 1.8 per cent or 183.95 points to 9,891.10, its lowest close since October 8th, while the broader Topix fell 0.7 per cent to 882.26.
But other market players warned about making too much of the data, noting it was equally likely that investors such as hedge funds were simply using it as an excuse to take profits after recent gains and ahead of their business year-end in November.
JAL closed up 2.7 per cent at 115 yen after earlier rising nearly 10 per cent.
The S&P 500 Index slid 2 per cent for its fourth straight day of losses. Sales of newly built single-family homes unexpectedly fell 3.6 per cent last month, according to a Commerce Department report. Separately, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed demand for mortgages has fallen for the past three weeks.
With Japan's earnings season in full gear, companies posting weaker-than-expected results were hit.
Hino Motors sank 8.7 per cent to 337 yen after the truck and bus maker said its operating loss for the year ending in March would be 12 billion yen, worse than analysts' forecasts of a 7.3 billion yen loss.
NEC Electronics fell 8.3 per cent to 688 yen after it reported a 15.5 billion yen loss in July-September, far bigger than the same period a year earlier, and cut its annual outlook on weaker sales of its cutting-edge system chips.
After the bell, Sharp Corp posted its first quarterly profit in a year today as a recovery in TV and panel demand helped offset a firmer yen.
Exporters also lost ground. Chip-tester maker Advantest Corp tumbled 6.6 per cent to 2,065 yen and electronics components maker TDK lost 2.3 per cent to 5,020 yen. The dollar was trading around 90.37 yen, down 0.4 per cent and retreating from a more than one-month high above 92 yen hit earlier in the week. Investors fret about a stronger yen as it eats into exporters' profits when they are repatriated.
Banks gained, helping brake the market's fall, as investors picked up sectors dependent on domestic demand while they sold exporter shares, a trader at a Japanese brokerage said.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's top bank, jumped 4.5 per cent to 488 yen. Mizuho Financial Group climbed 4.1 per cent to 179 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group rose 1.6 per cent to 3,150 yen.
Trade was extremely active, with 2.6 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section compared to last week's daily average of 1.9 billion.
Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by nearly 3 to 1.
Reuters