2013.04.1603:09:10UTC+00Asia stocks skid as oil, mining shares take hit

Asian stocks faced a second straight day of drops Tuesday after a loss of momentum in the Chinese economy and a steep fall in commodity prices prompted the worst sell-off in five months on Wall Street.

The Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets gave up after a string of brokerages cut their economic view for China, while Japanese shares also go through further yen appreciation as investors pulled away from risky assets.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average gave up 1.1%, and the broader Topix surrendered 1.8%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.8%, and the Shanghai Composite Index off 0.3%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX retreated 0.7%, and South Korea’s Kospi backed off 1%.

“While a small miss in China’s gross domestic product and industrial production data was the primary catalyst for the share-market selloff, the underlying reasons for the decline are a supply-driven decline in some commodity markets, a leverage-inspired crash in gold prices and, in the case of the Australian market, full valuations for many stocks,” said CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner.

Having already taken a huge decline on Monday, Tuesday’s stock decrease in Asia were relatively modest as compared to hefty overnight losses of between 1.8% and 2.4% for major U.S. stock benchmarks. But a $140 loss for gold futures and a 11% plunge for silver futures traded in New York slammed miners and retailers of the precious metals.

In Sydney, gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd. and Perseus Mining Ltd. dove 5.8% and 8.2%, respectively.

In Hong Kong, Zhaojin Mining Industry Co. plunged 4.8%, and retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. slumped 4.4%. Shares of Zhongjin Gold Corp. relinquished 4.8% in Shanghai, while Korea Zinc Co., which has an exposure to precious metals, plummeted 7.7% in Seoul.

The broader resource sector also weakened after brokerages including HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and J.P. Morgan downgraded their economic forecasts in the wake of Monday’s disappointing first-quarter economic data from China, one of the biggest consumers of global commodities.

Mining heavyweight BHP Billiton Ltd. missed 1.4%, and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. retreated 1.5% Sydney.

Jiangxi Copper Co. traded 4.7% lower, and PetroChina Co. suffered 1.7% lost in Hong Kong, while in Shanghai, they shed 2.9% and 0.5%, respectively.

Among steelmaker, Posco recorded a 2% decline in Seoul, Kobe Steel Ltd. dive 4.2% in Tokyo, and Maanshan Iron & Steel Co. sank 1.1% in Shanghai.

In Japan, financials and exporters — which had powered gains of more than 25% for the two major stock benchmarks in the year to date — suffered another day of weakness. Exporters in particular came under pressure as the U.S. dollar slid to around ¥97, after an unsuccessful test of the ¥100 level last week.

Sony Corp. skid 5.6%, and Toyota Motor Corp. drifted 1.4%, while among banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. lost 3.5%.

Shares of wireless telecom Softbank Corp. marked an 8.9% data lost in Tokyo, after Dish Network Corp. topped its bid for U.S. peer Sprint Nextel Corp..