Asia markets skid on shipping and shipbuilding stocks

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Most Asian share markets ended lower Wednesday as shipping stocks and shipbuilders fell on worries about the strength of the global economic recovery.Japan's Nikkei 225 Average ended down 1.4% at 10,075.05.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.4% and South Korea's Kospi lost 2.4%.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which lost 2.8% in the previous trading session, rose 0.3%, but Taiwan's Taiex gave up 1.6% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.8%.

Ping An Securities analyst Li Xianming said investors still harbored concerns that markets might run out of positive catalysts: "We're particularly worried about the U.S. economy because there may be ugly surprises as it rebounds."

A Wall Street Journal report that GMAC Financial Services and the Treasury Department were in advanced talks to prop up the lender with its third helping of taxpayer money was adding to the cautious tone. The report served as a reminder of how some financial firms remain dependent on government lifelines.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures recently rose 3 points in screen trade.

In afternoon trading, India's Sensex fell 0.8% and Singapore's Straits Times Index shed 1.4%.

Shares of Honda Motor /quotes/comstock/13*!hmc/quotes/nls/hmc (HMC 31.16, +0.19, +0.61%) /quotes/comstock/!7267 (JP:7267 2,820, -60.00, -2.08%) defied a downbeat Tokyo market to jump 3.3% after the auto maker lifted its earnings forecast. The car maker's fiscal second-quarter net income sank 56% but it lifted its earnings forecast for this fiscal year, predicting profit would grow as cost-reduction efforts pay off.

Shipping stocks and shipbuilders were sharply lower, amid recent downbeat earnings for the sector, which has taken a hammering from the global downturn. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of the demand for dry bulk goods, fell 1% Tuesday.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines /quotes/comstock/11i!mslo.y (MSLO.Y 17.85, +0.29, +1.65%) /quotes/comstock/!9104 (JP:9104 541.00, +3.00, +0.56%) dropped 2.2% and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha /quotes/comstock/!9107 (JP:9107 326.00, -12.00, -3.55%) slid 4.5% in Tokyo.

STX Pan Ocean /quotes/comstock/11i!spnof (SPNOF 1.95, -0.11, -5.34%) dropped 7.4% and Daewoo Shipbuilding /quotes/comstock/11i!dwot.f (DWOT.F 27.31, +0.25, +0.91%) lost 3.9% in Seoul.

China Cosco Holdings /quotes/comstock/11i!cico.y (CICO.Y 6.46, +0.12, +1.83%) /quotes/comstock/22h!e:1919 (HK:1919 9.81, -0.21, -2.10%) gave up 3.8% in Hong Kong and Neptune Orient Lines /quotes/comstock/11i!nptoy (NPTO.Y 4.45, -0.15, -3.26%) /quotes/comstock/22i!e:n03 (SG:N03 1.54, -0.04, -2.53%) fell 3.5% in Singapore trading.

Although Chinese shares ended higher, trading volumes were thin on concerns that Friday's launch of ChiNext, the new Nasdaq-style board, would hurt liquidity.

"I expect tens of billions of funds to channel into ChiNext. Many of these investors have higher risk appetite and make frequent trades. Their departure may have a sizable impact on the main board's trade volume," said Haitong Securities analyst Zhang Qi. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China /quotes/comstock/28c!e:601398 (CN:601398 5.20, 0.00, 0.00%) slipped 0.6%, while China Life Insurance Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!lfc/quotes/nls/lfc (LFC 71.61, +3.00, +4.37%) /quotes/comstock/22h!e:2628 (HK:2628 36.10, -1.00, -2.70%)

Source: www.marketwatch.com