Asian markets most down led by banks and steelmakers (MarketWatch)  (14-04-2008)

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- The steep fall on Wall Street on Friday extended investors’ fears about the U.S. economy and Tokyo and Hong Kong listed stocks were hurt by banks, while steelmakers dragged down shares in Shanghai and Seoul.

The Nikkei 225 Average dropped 3.4% to 12,877.22, while the broader Topix index sank 2.8% to 1,242.62.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gave up 3.3% to 23,850.61, after rising during the two previous sessions, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 4.3% to 12,787.73.

China's Shanghai Composite dropped 4.4% to 3,337.83 and Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 2.7% to 3,041.59.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index lost 2.1% to 5,327.10, South Korea's Kospi lost 1.8% to 1,747.17, New Zealand's NZX 50 index slipped 0.1% to 3,483.90 and Taiwan's Weighted index fell 0.5% to 8,865.39.

Banking stocks performed poorly in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Shares of Mitsubishi UFJ sank 3.6%, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group lost 4.4% in Tokyo, while Mizuho gained 1.72%. In Hong Kong HSBC Holdings lost 1.5%, while Industrial & Commercial Bank of China fell 4.1% to halt a three-day winning run.

Elsewhere, shares of Macquarie Group gave up 3.7% and National Australia Bank lost 2.3% in Sydney, while DBS Group Holdings shed 2.9% in Singapore.

The rising cost of raw materials hurt steelmakers’ shares and Hyundai Steel lost 4.8% and Posco sank 5.9% in Seoul, while in Shanghai trading, shares of Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. tumbled 6.5% and Nanjing Iron & Steel Co. slumped 7.3%.

Source MarketWatch