7:30AM Asian Markets finished lower.
Asian-Pacific benchmarks closed lower. The Nikkei, Japan’s benchmark ended down 208.31 points, or 1.2% to 16,906.23. .The low came in the wake of China’s decision to tighten its grip on its soaring money supply growth, for fears of a potential investment bubble. Japan’s benchmark was also influenced by a poor Sony performance, shedding 5.8% after reporting a first-quarter loss and an uncertain outlook for the fiscal year. Other blue chips faired better, Canon advanced 2.3%, reporting 18.7% quarterly growth. Pioneer rose 5.3%, despite announcing $143 million operating loss on restructuring issues. Kospi, Seoul’s benchmark shed 2.5%, led by government data and Hyundai Motors legal problems. Hong Kong’ Hang Seng also ended 0.5% lower or 16,661.30 making it 1.5% for the week.