Hong Kong stocks end shortened session lower; Sydney, Singapore advance Asian markets ended mostly lower Wednesday, with auto and tire makers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Bridgestone Corp. getting roughed up as investors got the first chance to react to their slashed earnings forecasts. Chinese shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong extended losses on concerns about corporate earnings growth, while Australian shares advanced after declining for two days. The broad decline for regional stocks came in the wake of extended losses on Wall Street and weak economic and housing data from the U.S. overnight. Andrew Sullivan, a sales trader at Main First Securities, said share movements were likely to be amplified because of thin volumes, as several investors and fund managers were going away for the Christmas and New Year holidays. As the year came to an end, the outlook for January was "a million-dollar question for most funds because the beginning of [2008] was when a lot of guys made their money," he said. "The big question here is how much of the recession is priced in. ... People are still thinking that it's probably a bit too early to get involved in the normal cyclical stocks." In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Average dropped 2.4% to 8,517.10 as the markets reopened after Tuesday's holiday, while the broader Topix index fell 2.6% to 826.99. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended down 0.3% at 14,184.14 and Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.7% to 1,736.99, during a shortened trading session on Christmas Eve. Elsewhere, China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.8% to 1,863.80, Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.4% to 4,423.09 and South Korea's Kospi lost 1.4% to 1,128.51. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.4% to 3,582.20, while New Zealand's NZX 50 Index inched up 0.2% to 2,668.06. In afternoon trading, India's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, dropped 1% to 9,694.42. Deven Choksey, managing director at K.R. Choksey Shares & Securities, said investors were likely to stay on the sidelines or remain cautious until they got a taste of corporate earnings in January. "We believe that earnings will drop for most companies, except for banks, in this quarter. But the quarter may not give a true picture for the entire year," said Choksey. Shares of Satyam Computer Services , India's fourth-largest software company, slumped 9.4% on reports the World Bank has banned the company from its corporate procurement program for eight years. The stock has lost nearly half its value since Dec. 16, when it announced the acquisition of two construction and infrastructure companies controlled by Satyam's founders' family for $1.6 billion. Satyam canceled the acquisition a day later, after the stock plunged in response to the acquisition announcement, and has said its board will meet Monday to consider a buyback. Regional detail Toyota fell 4% in Tokyo after the company said Monday it expects a group operating loss of 150 billion yen ($1.7 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 31, compared to a 2.27 trillion yen profit a year earlier. The company also cut its net income projection to 50 billion yen, down 91% from its earlier estimate, in addition to lowering its unit-sales target to 7.54 million vehicles from 8.24 million units. See full story on Toyota outlook. Separately, the company Wednesday said its domestic production dropped for a fourth straight month in November, by 27.2% from the year earlier period to 288,138 vehicles. Other automakers were also dragged down as investors worried about the deteriorating outlook for the automobile industry, with Honda Motor Co. sliding 5.7% and Mazda Motor Corp. losing 4.7%. Shares of Bridgestone tumbled 4.7% after the tire maker cut its net income forecast for 2008 to 12 billion yen from 66 billion yen on dropping sales, a strong yen and a write-down of some U.S. assets. In Seoul, Hyundai Motor Co. sank 2.8%, and Kia Motors Corp. skidded 3.9% -- on top of their double-digit percentage declines in the previous session -- after they also cut their sales forecast earlier this week. National Australia Bank shares gained 2.6% after the banking major said discussions to purchase Wizard's brand name, distribution network and prime mortgages had ended with their offer rejected. Shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia overcame early losses to 0.4% in afternoon trading, after the bank said it will acquire up to A$4 billion of home loans originated by Wizard. In Hong Kong, market heavyweight China Mobile gave up 1.3% and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China lost 1.2%. Shares of HSBC Holdings finished up 0.3%, recovering from early losses and after dropping in the previous four sessions. February crude-oil futures rose 12 cents to $39.10 a barrel in electronic trading, after falling 93 cents to $38.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In Asian currency trading, the U.S. dollar changed hands for 90.42 yen, compared with 90.57 yen Tuesday. Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2% to 8,419.49, and the S&P 500 Index gave up 1% to 863.16, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.7% to 1,521.54.

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