Asian stocks pared declines as markets across the region rebounded following steep falls in the wake of North Korea's attack on South Korea yesterday. Japanese shares fell as they resumed trade after a holiday.
South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries and Korean Airlines declined at least 2 per cent. Advantest, the world's biggest maker of memory-chip testers that gets more than 25 per cent of its revenue from South Korea, dropped 0.6 per cent in Tokyo. Ping An Insurance (Group), China's second largest insurer, climbed 2 per cent after falling 4.4 per cent yesterday.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.4 per cent to 130.64 in Tokyo, after falling as much as 1.3 per cent earlier. The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index climbed 0.1 per cent as markets in China, Hong Kong and Singapore rebounded.
“There's been a lot of big headlines crossing the wires in the last couple of weeks that are shaking investors,” Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Chicago-based Harris Private Bank, which oversees $US55 billion, said on Bloomberg Television.
“Anytime there's escalation of violence, it creates a concern. That combined with the timing of the disclosure of North Korea's nuclear facilities makes it much more disturbing.”