Shares in Japan fell Thursday, tracking regional losses earlier this week, as the fallout from Volkswagen AG’s diesel-emissions scandal hit Japan’s auto-related sectors.
Japanese markets returned from holiday, as the Nikkei 225 index was crushed 498.38 points, or 2.8%, to 17.571.83.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 206.93 points, or 1%, to 21,095.98
Shares in Japan fell Thursday, tracking regional losses earlier this week, as the fallout from Volkswagen AG’s diesel-emissions scandal hit Japan’s auto-related sectors.
Volkswagen’s alleged cheating on U.S. exhaust-emissions tests has raised the possibility the auto industry could shift away from diesel engines to cleaner technology. Shares of some Japanese auto-parts makers closely linked to the manufacture of diesel engines and the German car maker have fallen Thursday.
NGK Insulators Ltd., which makes diesel particulate filters, was down 7% while auto-parts maker Aisin Seiki Co fell 7.4%.
Shares of Mazda Motor Co were down 6.8% and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. lost 2.8%.
The losses follow the resignation of Volkswagen’s chief executive Martin Winterkorn Wednesday, and a calamitous few days for Europe’s largest auto maker after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday disclosed that the company used software on some VW and Audi diesel-powered cars to manipulate the results of routine emissions tests.
While one of Volkswagen’s direct rivals in Japan, Toyota Motor Corp. has outperformed the broader market, it was still down 1.9%.
Prices of platinum, a raw material used in diesel engines, fell Wednesday on worries that the emissions scandal would push buyers toward gasoline or electric cars. While prices rebounded Thursday to $949.41 per ounce, they had sank to a near seven-year low of $929.08 U.S. a day earlier.
Platinum prices have been falling steadily since last July and have roughly halved from an all-time high of $1,912.20 U.S. in mid-2011.
Analysts blame oversupply from major producer South Africa, patchy auto-sales growth and slowing consumption for jewelry, especially in China.
Broad losses in Japan also follow dismal Chinese manufacturing data from Wednesday, which fell to a six-and-a-half-year low, stoking further worries about the ripple effects of its slowing economy.
Late in the Asia day, Taiwan’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than six-and-a-half years, saying the 12.5-basis-point reduction in rates would help lift prices and financial stability. The decision follows disappointing data showing a slowdown in the island’s export-reliant economy, which had prompted some economists to expect a rate cut. The central bank lowered the benchmark discount rate to 1.750% from 1.875%.
The Taiwan dollar marked a fresh six-year low of 33.185 to one U.S. dollar, with most of its losses coming in the minutes before the central bank’s announcement.
The currency was down 0.6% against the U.S. dollar. Taiwan’s Taiex, which closed before the bank’s announcement, was down 0.9%.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai moved upward 21.97 points, or 0.7%, to 3,285
Uncertainty about the timing of the Fed’s rate increase has added to worries about China’s slowdown, causing volatility in stocks and currencies in the region. Earlier this week, a strengthening U.S. dollar pressured Asian currencies, which continued to fall Wednesday after the poor Chinese economic reading.
Shares in the U.S. ended slightly lower overnight as economic news from Europe helped offset the weak Chinese data.
In other markets
Markets in Singapore and Korea were shuttered for holiday
In Taiwan, the Taiex index swooned 70.32 points, or 0.9%, to 8,123.10
The NZX 50 regained 22.47 points, or 0.4%, to 5,676.81
The ASX 200 Index recovered 73.54 points, or 1.5%, to 5,071.67
