Asian markets received a bad lead from the US and European stocks while financial, commodity and materials sectors were all hit hard. Most Asian stock markets ended down Thursday ahead of the U.S. jobs report. Japan's Nikkei fell on the deepening fears over Toyota Motor's vehicle recall. China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gave up 1.8%.
Asian markets sharply fell on Tuesday with the pessimistic sentiment that the global economic downturn could be lasting longer than expected. Tokyo market ended 1.4% lower, while Shanghai Composite dropped 2.9%, giving up some recent gains. South Korea stocks took a massive 4.1% loss, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 3.8%.
Asian markets opened higher today after Wall Street's gains. Yesterday Asia's major indexes closed broadly weaker on the further gloomy economic data of the US. Tokyo and Shanghai markets were slightly down while Hong Kong stocks gained 0.9% on hope of Chinese government's support to the mainland shares.
