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Portugal drives Japan markets down(Baystreet Foreign Markets Wrap (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Japanese stocks declined for a fifth straight day on Friday, ending the week with a solid 1.8% loss, as a broad selloff in the U.S. and European equities, triggered by Portuguese bank fears, spread to Asian markets. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 52.43 points, or 0.3%, to 15,164.04, its lowest level in over a week, while the yen, a traditional safe-haven currency, edged up to ¥101.28 to the U.S. dollar from ¥101.30 on Thursday. Among top underperforming stocks, semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics Corp. slid 2.3%, industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp. lost 1.8%, and console maker Nintendo Co. moved down 1.6%. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong docked 5.54 points to 23,233.45. While banking giant HSBC Holdings dropped 0.4%, state-owned Bank of China recovered 0.3% after a two-day decline amid money-laundering accusations by China's state broadcaster CCTV. Lenovo Group rallied 2.1%, after latest industry figures from IDC and Gartner showed the company continued to be the global leader in personal computer shipments in the second quarter. Elsewhere, South Korean markets were mainly dragged down by index heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co., which tumbled 1.7%. In other markets; The Shanghai CSI 300 index inched up 5.16 points, or 0.2%, to 2,148.01 In Korea, the Kospi index nicked up 2.34 points, or 0.1%, to 2,002.84 Singapore's Straits Times Index recovered 24.23 points, or 0.7%, to 3,293.73 In Taiwan, the Taiex index faded 69.28 points, or 0.7%, to 9,495.84 In New Zealand, the NZX 50 slipped 27.42 points, or 0.5%, to 5,100.59 Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 22.35 points, or 0.4%, to 5,486.79 © 1998 - 2014 Baystreet.ca Media Corp. All rights reserved. |