(RTTNews) - The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed lower Wednesday on profit taking from recent rallies. Wall Street’s decline overnight, amid concerns that the government measures won’t be sufficient to prevent the U.S. economy from entering a deep recession, prompted investors to sell stocks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plunged 5% and India’s Sensex fell nearly 6%. However, Japan’s Nikkei index rebounded in late trade to end in positive territory. Oil prices held steady in the Asian session Wednesday after the contract for November delivery fell overnight in U.S. trading. The Japanese yen rose against the dollar as investors turned risk averse.

The U.S. dollar held steady in the upper 101-yen levels on Wednesday. The dollar was quoted at 101.82-101.87 in late Tokyo deals, down 0.64 yen from Tuesday’s close of 102.46-102.47 yen in Tokyo. Meanwhile, the South Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar. The won ended the session at 1,239.5 a dollar, down from Tuesday’s local close of 1,208.0 a dollar. The Australian dollar closed weaker at US$0.7005-0.7009 and the kiwi ended lower at US$0.6170 in local trade.

The Japanese stock market closed higher, extending Tuesday’s rally. The market opened lower as investors locked in profits from the largest single-day gain in its postwar history on Tuesday, but rebounded in late trade on bargain hunting. Stocks of defensive nature like drugmakers helped buoy the market, though major exporters and technology stocks fell amid worries about the global economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 99.9 points, or 1.1%, at 9,547.5, but the broader Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 0.8 point or 0.1% at 955.51.

Meanwhile, Japan’s central bank withdrew 2.2 trillion yen from the money markets on Wednesday as interest rates fell. It was the Bank of Japan’s first fund-draining operation since it began liquidity infusions on September 16.

On the economic front, Japan announced August figures for trade balance and current account. The current account balance for Japan remained in surplus for August, but the size of the surplus fell by 52.5% from a year ago. The Ministry of Finance said that the surplus was 988.8 billion yen in non-seasonally adjusted terms, marking the sixth consecutive month for shrinking current surpluses. The balance of trade in goods and services posted a deficit of 327.6 billion yen, while the merchandise trade showed a deficit of 236.0 billion yen.

Additionally, a final report from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that Japan’s industrial production fell 3.5% in August from the prior month. The Ministry confirmed the initial estimate.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals jumped 6.2% and Astellas Pharma climbed 3.6%. Retailers were mostly higher, with Fast Retailing jumping 4.0%, Seven & I Holdings advancing 3.7% and Aeon surging 10.6%.

In the banking pace, Mitsubishi UFJ rose 1.4% and Mizuho Financial jumped 3.4%, while Sumitomo Mitsui lost 3.6%. Top brokerage Nomura Holdings dropped 0.8%.

Among exporters, Toyota Motor fell 1.9%, Honda Motor plunged 5.2%, and Mazda Motor slumped 9.2%. Mazda has put on hold its plans to build a second factory in the U.S. due to a sharp decline in new-vehicle sales in the U.S. and troubles at partner Ford Motor, the Nikkei business daily reported. Meanwhile, electronics giant Sony plummeted 4.3%, heavy machinery maker Komatsu tumbled 3.0% and Canon slumped 4.7%.

The South Korean stock market closed sharply lower after posting steep gains in the previous two trading sessions. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI fell 27.41 points, or 2%, to 1,340.28. The decline came after an advance of around 10% over the past two straight sessions.

On the economic front, the South Korean jobless rate fell to 3% in September, after staying at 3.1% in August and July, the National Statistical Office announced Wednesday. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate was 3.1%, down from 3.2% in August. The number of employed persons increased 112,000 in September compared to around 159,000 in the prior month.

Steel and financial stocks led the losers. Top steelmaker POSCO slumped 8.5% and Hyundai Steel plunged 6.8%. Hana Financial Group plummeted 7.6%.

Among major tech exporters, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 2.3% and flat panel maker LG Display lost 3.0%. Chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor shed 4.3%.

Bucking the trend telecom stocks closed higher on optimism following a brokerage report over their third-quarter profit outlook. Top mobile carrier SK Telecom edged up 0.5% and LG Telecom jumped 4.8%.

The Chinese stock market closed lower, extending losses for a second consecutive trading session. Worries about corporate earnings, due to slowing economic growth, dented investor sentiment. Resources stocks suffered the most on concerns about declining demand for raw materials, while property developers gained on signs of support for the sector from the government. The Shanghai Composite Index closed down 22.65 points or 1.12% at 1,994.67. The index has lost over 67% from the high of 6,092.06 points it posted on October 16, 2007.

On the economic front, CHINA’S money supply growth slowed in September for the fourth month, the central bank said Tuesday. M2, the broadest measure of money supply, rose 15.3% to 45.3 trillion yuan from a year earlier, according to the People’s Bank of China. M2 gained 16% in August.

China Petroleum & Chemical or Sinopec plunged 6.5%, but index heavyweight PetroChina advanced 0.6%. Jiangxi Copper shed 5.9% and Aluminum Corp of China fell 3.0%. In the energy sector, China Shenhua Energy lost 3.2% and Yanzhou Coal Mining dropped 3.8%.

Property developers rose after Shanghai’s public housing fund management agency announced Tuesday that it has raised its ceiling on mortgage lending to households by 20% to encourage families to buy homes. China Vanke gained 3.4% and COFCO Property surged 9.8%.

Maanshan Iron & Steel jumped 4.3% after the company projected a 56.46% increase in the third-quarter net profit.

Banks edged higher, with China CITIC Bank rising 2.7% after its board board approved the stake increase of Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria to 10.07% from 4.83% and Bank of Beijing gaining 4.0%.

Among brokerages, CITIC Securities fell 2.9% and Northeast Securities lost 2.6% after the company said that it expects net profit for the first nine months of 2008 to decline 65% to 70% on year.

The Hong Kong stock market closed sharply lower, with the key index slipping back below 16,000, as investors locked in profits following the market’s 13.8% gain over the previous two sessions. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang’s annual policy address had little impact on the market. The benchmark Hang Seng index closed down 834.58 points or 4.96% at 15,998.3.

Banks finished mostly down despite government’s pledge Tuesday to guarantee all bank deposits and establish a stand-by facility to provide additional capital tolocal financial institutions.

The property sector index was down 779.36 points or 4.28% at 17,444.36 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises index closed down 541.4 points or 6.42% at 7,894.06.

Among large caps, China Mobile lost 5.9%, China Life fell 4.5% and Hong Kong Exchanges dropped 4.6%. In the banking space, HSBC shed 2.8%, Hang Seng Bank declined 3.0%, BOC Hong Kong plunged 3.4%, and Dah Sing Bank slumped 8.2%. and Bank of East Asia closed unchanged.

The Australian stock market closed lower, ending a two-day winning streak. Investors locked in profits after the key index posted steep gains in the previous two trading sessions. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 35.2 points, or 0.8%, at 4,300.0 and the broader All Ordinaries index fell 39 points, or 0.9%, to 4,272.5. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index futures contract was down 42 points at 4,362.

On the economic front, a private sector forecast of Australia’s economic activity showed an expectation of annualized growth of 2.5% in August. The Westpac Bank-Melbourne Institute leading index reading was down from expected growth of 3.3% forecast in July’s survey, and well below the long-term trend of 4.0% annualized growth. The coincident index, which measures current activity, increased 0.4% on month in August to 2.0%, also below the long-term trend of 3.7% on-year growth.

In the resources sector, Rio Tinto plunged 5.2%. The miner said that the long-term outlook for the company was positive despite the turmoil on financial markets. Rio’s global iron ore production rose by 17% during the three months to September 30 compared to the same period in 2007. Index leader BHP Billiton plummeted 4.2%.

Iluka Resources gained 4.6% after the company upgraded its profit outlook following a fall in the Aussie and a rise in commodity prices.

The energy sector was mixed after oil prices continued to decline Wednesday in Asia. Woodside Petroleum fell 3.1% and Santos tumbled 4.4%, while Oil Search jumped 4.2%. Gold miners lost ground on weaker gold prices in Sydney. Newcrest Mining slumped 6.2%, Newmont Mining fell 3.4%, and Lihir Gold lost 1.3%.

Among the major banks, National Australia Bank dropped 1.3%, Commonwealth Bank declined 1.8%, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group slipped 0.3%. Westpac Banking Corp declined 0.2%, but its takeover target St George Bank rose 1.4%. Australia’s largest investment bank Macquarie Group fell 2.2%.

Power supplier Origin Energy rose 1.6% after the company said that it expects an increase of up to 40% in underlying earnings in this financial year, boosted by its joint venture with ConocoPhillips.

In the retail sector, Woolworths advanced 0.4% and Coles owner Wesfarmers gained 1.5%, while David Jones plunged 3.1%.

The New Zealand stock market closed lower, giving away a portion of the 5.65% gains that it posted on Tuesday. After a weak start, the market extended its losses as Telecom announced plans to spend NZ$574 million on a new mobile network. The benchmark NZX 50 index closed down 44.33 points, or 1.53%, at 2,904.64 and the broader NZX All Capital index shed 38.98 points or 1.32% to 2,947.44.

On the economic front, traders had little reports to digest on Wednesday.

Top stock Telecom plunged 5.4%. Guidance provided by the company showed a normalized net profit of NZ$460 million to NZ$500 million for the current financial year. The company had provided NPAT guidance in the range of NZ$500 million to NZ$540 million in its annual report. Contact Energy fell 1.6% and Fletcher Building lost 1.9%.

New Zealand Oil and Gas declined 1.6%, Pike River Coal shed 2.7%, AMP plummeted 4.8%, Guinness Peat Group tumbled 3.8%, Ryman Healthcare slumped 4.9%, and TrustPower fell 3.7%.

Among gainers, Rakon 0.9%, Nuplex surged 3.6%, and Freightways gained 3.4%.

Other Asian markets:

Taiwan’s Taiex closed down 0.9% at 5,246; Malaysia’s KLCI closed down 1.7% at 949; Singapore’s STI closed down 3.2% at 2,059; Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index closed down 2.3% at 1,520; and India’s Sensex finished down 5.9% at 10,809.

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