MW: Asian shares go negative, with China property down
By Michael Kitchen
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Asian stocks turned mostly negative Wednesday afternoon, with Chinese property shares dropping on policy-tightening fears after Beijing's rate hike late Tuesday, while many major Asian energy stocks also fell. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index (HK:HANGSENG 23,334, -150.66, -0.64%) was off by 0.6%, with real-estate issues among the top losers. Hang Lung Properties Ltd. (HK:101 31.75, -1.05, -3.20%) (HLPPF 4.35, -0.10, -2.25%) dropped 3.2%, while Sino Land Co. (HK:83 14.08, -0.50, -3.43%) (SNLAF 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) gave up 3.4%. In afternoon trade, Japan's Nikkei Average (JP:NI225 10,618, -18.15, -0.17%) was down 0.3% after having ended the morning session higher. South Korea's Kospi (XX:$SEU 2,046, -24.12, -1.17%) fell 1.4%, with foreign selling reportedly leading the drop on concern of emerging-market risks. India's Sensex (XX:SENSEX 17,797, +21.67, +0.12%) was off 0.6% in early moves. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO 4,905, +14.40, +0.29%) was among the few gainers, up 0.3%, with banks doing well after a modest profit rise at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AU:CBA 55.07, +1.15, +2.13%) (CBAUF 52.50, +0.85, +1.65%) , whose shares were up 2.5%. Many energy shares lost ground after a Dow Jones Newswires report that China National Petroleum Corp. planned to raise crude runs 13.3% in the first quarter to meet demand. Cnooc Ltd. (HK:883 16.44, -0.46, -2.72%) (CEO 219.50, -3.18, -1.43%) was down 2.7% in Hong Kong, while Inpex Corp. (JP:1605 531,000, -12,000, -2.21%) (IPXHY 65.65, -0.15, -0.23%) lost 2.2% in Tokyo. One big winner late Wendesday, however, was Toyota Motor Corp. (JP:7203 3,670, +180.00, +5.16%) (TM 88.57, +3.44, +4.04%) , with a hike to its earnings outlook and U.S. report clearing its autos of electronics defects helping boost the stock 4.6%.