The Japanese market is trading sharply lower. In late morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 389.25 points or 3.93% to 9,511.94.
The Nikkei 225 index finished slightly lower on Friday, nudged lower by weakness from the financials, property stocks and steel companies. For the day, the index eased 13 points or 0.13% to finish at 9,901.19, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues declined 0.48 point or 0.05% to close at 890.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group are currently down 3.1% each, while Mizuho Financial is losing 2.9% and Resona Holdings is down 4.1%.
Automakers Honda, Toyota, Suzuki and Mitsubishi are trading lower in a range of 2.5%-6%. A stronger yen is dragging down exporter stocks. Casio is down 5.02%, Sony is declining 4.5% and Canon is losing 4.9%.
Shares of Hitachi Ltd. are down 5.9% after the Financial Times reported that the new U.K. transport secretary Philip Hammond may cancel a GBP 7.5 billion, or US$11 billion order for 1,400 train carriages placed with the company. The order for the carriages is to replace the aging InterCity Express fleet.
Shares of Sumco Corp. are trading higher after the silicon wafer maker said Friday that it booked a 4.8 billion yen group net loss in the quarter through April. That was far better than the 26.8 billion yen net loss reported for the year-ago period.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar was trading in the lower 91 yen-range on Monday. In late morning trades, the dollar was quoted at 91.15-91.20 yen, down 1.55 yen from Friday's close of 92.70-92.73 yen in Tokyo. Meanwhile, the euro fetched 109.28-33 yen, down from 113.04-08 yen in Tokyo late Friday.
The Australian market is trading sharply lower, tracking the more than 3% slump on Wall Street on Friday and a drop in commodity prices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is currently down 140.70 points or 3.16% to 4,308.70 and the broader All Ordinaries Index is losing 136.30 points or 3.05% to 4,336.10.
On Friday, the S&P/ASX200 Index declined 36.60 points, or 0.82% and closed at 4,449, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,472, representing a loss of 33.80 points, or 0.75%.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton is down 3.93% and Rio Tinto is losing 3.31%, while Newcrest Mining is trading with a gain of 0.4%. Bluescope Steel, Fortescue Metals, Incitec Pivot and Orica are also trading sharply lower.
Bank stocks ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac are trading sharply lower in a range of 2.8%-3.1%
National Australia Bank is down 2.91%. The bank said that one of its U.S. subsidiaries, Greater Western Bank, had acquired certain U.S. loan and deposit assets of TierOne Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for a cash payment of A$90.31 million, or US$76 million.
In the energy space, Woodside Petroleum is down 2.98%, Origin Energy is trading lower by 3.9%, Santos is down 3.4% and Oil Search is declining 2.65%.
Transport logistics company Brambles Ltd. said it will lose the business of ConAgra, a food company in U.S. However, the company said the loss would have no impact on its 2010 results, with ConAgra representing less than 1% of Brambles' total annual sales revenue. Further, Brambles said it expected to transfer the ConAgra business to its successor over the course of the 2011 financial year. The company's stock is down 3.7%.
On the economic front, an index measuring the performance of construction in Australia declined in May, although it remained above the boom-or-bust score of 50 that indicates expansion rather than contraction. The Australia Industry Group said on Monday that the May figure came in at 53.3, down from 55.8 in April.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened more than two U.S. cents lower, after markets were spooked by a soft jobs report in the U.S. In early trades, the local unit was quoted at US$0.8198-US$0.8205, down 3.1% from Friday's close of US$0.8462-US$0.8465.
The South Korean market is trading sharply lower as disappointing U.S. jobs data and concerns over Hungary's debt problems triggered a sell-off.
In late morning trades, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI is losing 45.28 points or 2.72% to 1,618.85.
The KOSPI finished flat on Friday as gains from the technology stocks were wiped out by selling from the financials and the steel companies. For the day, the index gained 2.29 points or 0.01% to finish at 1,664.13.
In the tech space, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is currently down 1.6%, Hynix Semiconductor is losing 1.9%, LG Display LCD is declining 3.6% and LG Electronics is down 4.7%.
Among auto stocks, Kia Motors is gaining 0.47%, while Ssangyong Motor is losing 6.2% and Hyundai Motor is down 1.12%.
Oil stock SK Holdings is down 3.4% and S-Oil is declining 3.95%, while energy stock KEPCO 15760 is losing 3.6%. Steel makers Hyundai Steel and POSCO are down more than 2.5% each.
In the banking sector, KB Financial, Korea Exchange Bank and Woori Finance are all down 4% each. Shinhan Financial is down more than 5%.
Among shipbuilders, Hyundai Heavy Industries is down 4.1% and Samsung Heavy Industries is down 3.9%, while Daewoo Shipbuilding is losing 2.5%.
In the telecom space, SK Telecom is down 1.5% and KT Corp. is losing 1.9%.
On the economic front, South Korea posted a record trade surplus of US$6.88 billion in the information technology product sector in May, led by increased demand for semiconductors and display panels.
According to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the country's IT exports for the month surged 32.8% on-year to $12.81 billion, the 12th consecutive month that the total has exceeded the $10 billion mark. Imports gained 20.8% on-year to $5.93 billion.
In the currency market, the South Korean won was trading at 1,234.90 won to the U.S. dollar, down 33.10 won from Friday's close of 1,201.8 won.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia is trading marginally lower, while Hong Kong, Shanghai, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan are trading sharply lower. The New Zealand market is closed on Monday in honor of the Queen's birthday.
On Wall Street, stocks saw significant losses to close out the week on Friday, as worries regarding the escalating European debt crisis, the prospects of growth in the U.S. labor market and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico generated significant selling pressure. The major averages all closed firmly lower, with the Dow closing below the 10,000 level.
The Dow plunged by 323.31 points or 3.2% to 9,931.97, the Nasdaq fell by 83.86 points or 3.6% to 2,219.17 and the S&P 500 slid by 37.5 points or 3.4% to 1,064.88.
A jump in May employment reported by the U.S. Labor Department on Friday was largely attributed to the hiring of temporary census workers. The data showed that non-farm payroll employment increased by 431,000 jobs in May following an unrevised increase of 290,000 jobs in April. The job growth fell short of economist estimates for an increase of about 500,000 jobs.
While the increase in jobs in May marked the fastest pace of job growth since March of 2000, the increase was primarily due to the addition of 411,000 temporary employees to work on the census. At the same time, the private sector added only 41,000 jobs in May.
Crude oil prices fell 4% on Friday, sliding below US$72 a barrel as disappointing U.S. employment data and fresh fears about Europe's bank woes spreading made investors risk averse and worried about the economic recovery. July crude fell US$3.10 or 4.15% to settle at US$71.51 a barrel, the lowest close since May 26.
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