Nikkei: 9,925.92 (–143.61) Hang Seng: 21,663.16 (–684.07) Shanghai Comp: 2,754.58 (–48.11):ASIAN STOCKS fell yesterday, amid renewed fears of debt contagion in Europe, with a surge in Macarthur Coal in response to a takeover bid failing to boost the Australian market.
Shares in the coking coal exporter jumped 36.6 per cent to A$15.14 after a joint A$4.7 billion bid from Peabody Energy of the US and European steel maker ArcelorMittal.
The FTSE Asia Pacific index was down 1.9 per cent as banks fell on concerns over the negative impact of Europe’s worsening debt crisis on their earnings.
HSBC, Europe’s biggest lender by market value, lost 3 per cent in Hong Kong to HK$74.75, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Japan’s largest publicly traded bank, fell 2.9 per cent to ¥397. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest lender by market value, declined 1.8 per cent to A$49.64 and South Korea’s Woori Financial slid 1.8 per cent to Won13,700.
Esprit, a Hong Kong clothing company, tumbled 5.8 per cent to HK$22.85, while Belle International, China’s largest footwear exporter, lost 6.8 per cent to HK$15.76. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)
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