Demand for safe heaven brought losses in Asia

Fears that the European debt crisis may worsen while the US and China's economies are slowing down, investors lost their risk appetite and looked for the safe heaven like the dollar and the yen, avoiding the stocks, the euro and the commodities. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell by 1% at 15:00 in Tokyo.

Nikkei 225

Nikkei 225 fell today by 0.67% or 68.20 points closing at 10069.53. From 225 shares, 36 advanced, 175 declined and 14 unchanged. Sectors leading the decline were the industrials that lost 33.46 points and the technology that lost 14.23 points.

Lagging shares today were Fanuc Ltd which fell by 1.13% closing at 14040 yen, second was Tokyo Electron Ltd which fell by 2.85% closing at 4435 yen. And Kyocera Corp which fell by 1.42% closing at 8360 yen.

Among the shares that advanced Fast Retailing Co Ltd topped the list by rising 1.96% closing at 13550 yen, followed by Denso Corp which rose by 1.88% and closing at 2978 yen. And Central Japan Railway Co which rose by 1.87% and closing at 655000 yen.

S&P/ASX 200

The S&P/ASX 200 fell today by 1.56% or 72.40 points closing at 4582.30. From 200 companies, 18 shares ended green, 176 ended in red and 6 unchanged. Sectors leading the decline were the financials that lost 34.15 points and basic materials that lost 18.36 points.

Lagging shares today included BlueScope Steel Ltd that retreated 6.67% closing at 1.26 Australian dollars, trailed by Gunns Ltd loosing 6.45% closing at 0.29 dollars. And Interpid Mines Ltd falling 6.40% closing at 1.61 Australian dollars.

Energy World Corp Ltd inclined the most today as it rose 8.65% closing at 0.56 Australian dollars, followed by Infigen Energy surging 5.41% closing at 0.39 Australian dollars, and Southern Cross Media Group Ltd that surged by 1.77% closing at 1.44 Australian dollars.

Hang Seng

Hang Seng fell today by 1.67% or 379.20 points to close at 22347.23. From 46 companies, 0 rose today, while 44 fell, and 2 unchanged. Sectors leading the decline were the financials that lost 235.73 points and oil & gas that lost 38.76 points.

Lagging shares today were HSBC Holdings PLC which fell 1.53% closing at 77.05 Hong Kong dollars, and China Construction Bank Corp falling by 2.22% closing at 6.16 Hong Kong dollars. And Industrial & Commercial Bank of China  falling by 2.21% closing at 5.74 Hong Kong dollars.