Tokyo, Hong Kong drop for 3rd straight session

Japanese and Hong Kong indexes declined for a third straight session on Monday, with exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp. reacting to a strengthened yen in Tokyo, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. retreated in Hong Kong on a rebound in crude -oil prices.
The Nikkei 225 Average lost 1.2% to 13,779.81, on top of the 1.3% drop Friday, and the broader Topix index gave up 1.2% to 1,341.14.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.1% to 22,504.96, after slipping 0.2% in the previous session, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index shed 1.6% to 12,142.47.
"The fuel price increase in China has been a disappointment to local investors. But on the other hand, the market's losses could narrow later in the day as the mainland markets seem to be more stable," said Conita Hung, head of equity markets at Delta Asia Financial Group in Hong Kong.
China's Shanghai Composite, which jumped 3% Friday on oil retailers after Beijing allowed the companies to raise prices of motor fuels by as much as 18%, surrendered some of those gains. The benchmark index, which has lost more than 46% so far in 2008, was recently down 1.5% at 2,788.47.
Hung said reports that Chinese stock market regulators were making efforts to stabilize the mainland stock markets, and likely buying activity by institutional investors in Hong Kong to shore up the value of their portfolios by the end of June, could provide support to the Hang Seng Index in the near-term.
She was referring to a Xinhua news service report that the Chinese stock market regulator, China Securities Regulatory Commission, planned to control the pace at which listed companies raise funds and clamp down on market rumors to bring stability to a market that ranks among the worst performers in Asia in 2008 to date.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi shed 1.1% to 1,712.08 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.9% to 5,241.90, while New Zealand's NZX 50 index slipped 0.4% to 3,270.34. Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 0.9% to 2,975.89 and Taiwan's Weighted index fell 0.5% to 7,864.93.

Taken From : http://www.marketwatch.com