Tokyo declines on export worries

Most Asia-Pacific equities markets were higher on Friday. The main exception were Tokyo’s markets, where the Topix had its worst opening day of the year in history, falling 4.32 percent to 1,411.91. The Nikkei also saw substantial declines, dropping 4.03 percent to 14,691.41, while the Mothers market of small and mid-caps fell 4.67 percent to 746.58. The declines came on worries that exports will slow due to problems in the US economy. Carmakers were lower on declines in sales in December. Toyota (TYO: 7203.T; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) dropped 4.3 percent to ¥5,780 while Nissan (TYO: 7201) was down 9.2 percent to ¥1,117. The electronics sector also saw declines. Nintendo (TYO: 7974; NAS: NTDOY; FWB: NTO) fell 4.9 percent to ¥63,600 as Matsushita Electric Industrial (TYO: 6572; NYSE: MC) was down 6.1 percent to ¥2,175 and Sony (TYO: 6758; NYSE: SNE) dropped 6.6 percent to ¥5,790.

Elsewhere in the region, Australia’s Sydney Ordinaries added 0.2 percent to 6,385.4 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 0.26 percent to 6,306.8. The Taiex was 0.45 percent higher to 8,221.1 in Taiwan. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.6 percent to 1,863.9. The Shanghai Composite added 0.78 percent to 5,361.57 while the Straits Times index was up 1.2 percent to 3,437.79 and the Sensex was 1.69 percent to 20,686.89. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng saw its biggest one-day gain in two weeks as it jumped 2.35 percent to 27,519.69.

European markets dropped after the US Labor Department announced that many fewer jobs were created in December than had been anticipated and that the unemployment rate rose to 5 percent during the month, historically low but still worrisome to investors. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.82 percent to 1,457.76. The Dax fell 1.26 percent to 7 ,808.69 in Frankfurt while Madrid’s IBEX was 1.71 percent lower to 14,602.3 and the Paris CAC-40 dropped 1.79 to 5,446.79. Industrial gases groups were higher on the session as Linde (FWB: LIN) led gainers on the Dax as it added 4.38 percent to €94.58 while Air Liquide (Euronext: AI) was up 0.09 percent to €103.38 Utilities also advanced as EDF (Euronext: EEN) led the CAC-40 with a gain of 0.38 percent to €81.81 and Eon (FWB: EOA; LSE: EON; NSYE: EON) was 1.14 percent higher to €148.23. Car and truck makers led the declines on both the Dax and the CAC-40. Man (FWB: EDF1) fell 4.93 percent to €101.22 while Peugeot (Euronext: UG; OTC: PEUGY) was down 6.79 percent to €46.51 and Renault (Euronext: RNO) dropped 7.58 percent to €86.45. The semiconductors sector also saw losses as STMicroelectronics (Euronext: STM; NYSE: STM) was 4.33 percent lower to €9.06 and Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX) fell 3.64 percent to €7.69.

London’s markets were also lower as the FTSE 100 fell 2.02 percent to 6,348.5 and the FTSE 250 dropped 2.61 percent to 10,265.5. Telecommunications retailer Carphone Warehouse (LSE: CPW) led gainers on the 100 as it added 2.64 percent to 340.75p but the retail sector was mixed as clothing retailer Next (LSE: NXT) dropped 5.67 percent to £14.64p and do-it-yourself retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KFG) was down 6.81 percent to 130p. Publisher Reed Elsevier (LSE: REL; Euronext: REN; NYSE: ENL; NYSE: RUK) added 0.37 percent to 674.5p while in the media sector Reuters (LSE: RTR; NAS: RTRSY) gained just 0.08 percent to 632p. Property investment group Liberty International (LSE: LII) led losers on the 100 with a decline of 6.91 percent to £10.11. Over on the 250, waste management group Shanks Group (LSE: SKS) added 2.17 percent to 235.5p. Food processor Northern Foods (LSE: NFDS) gained 2.39 percent to 96.5p.

Wall Street was lower in mid-afternoon trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 1.55 percent to 12,854.8 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.89 percent to 2,527.45 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.9 percent to 1,419.67. The declines came on new data showing that only 18,000 new jobs were created in December and that the unemployment rate was at its highest level in over two years. The semiconductors sector saw losses after JP Morgan cut its recommendation for Intel (NAS: INTC; SEHK: 4335) from “overweight” to “neutral” on high inventories and declining orders in the fourth quarter. Intel dropped $2.10 to $22.57. Homebuilders were also lower. Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) was down 65 cents to $6.21 while Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) fell 71 cents to $5.74, DR Horton was $1.34 lower to $10.81 and Centex (NYSE: CTX) dropped $2.24 to $20.89.