Asian stock markets faltered Friday amid worries over the health of Europe's banks and fears that the continent's debt crisis might be spreading beyond a handful of small economies, according to AP. Benchmark oil stood below $102 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro and the yen. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.5 percent to 8,359.92. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.4 percent at 18,550.37. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.7 percent to 1,833.50. Benchmarks in mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, India and Indonesia also were lower. Developments on Thursday magnified fears that Europe's debt crisis - which dominated so many of 2011's financial headlines - was flaring anew. Trading in UniCredit, Italy's largest bank, was halted after the stock lost a quarter of its value. The bank said Wednesday that it would need to offer huge discounts to investors to raise money in a new share sale. Hungary, meanwhile, had to pay a staggeringly high interest rate of 10 percent on its 12-month debt. That is far above the 7 percent level that forced Greece and Portugal to seek emergency bailouts to prevent them from defaulting on their debts. The development hurt investment confidence, analysts said. Chinese building and property shares slumped. Hong Kong-listed Anhui Conch Cement Co. plummeted 6.1 percent, while China Resources Cement Holdings Ltd. lost 6.2 percent. China National Building Material Co. lost 6.1 percent. Japanese export shares were also hurt as the euro currency plunged against the yen. A strong yen cuts into repatriated profits and makes Japanese products more expensive overseas. Yamaha Motor Co. plunged 4 percent while Nissan Motor Co. fell 2.5 percent. Sony Corp. lost 2.8 percent. At a news conference in Tokyo, Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi expressed concern about the euro's weakness against the yen. "I am carefully monitoring the market. It is also important to monitor the movements from a long-term perspective." The euro's weakness - and yen's strength - could have a "considerable impact" on Japan's exporters, he said. In the U.S. on Thursday, investors were encouraged by a report on the U.S. job market. Weekly unemployment claims declined again, one day before a crucial report on the national jobs picture in December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had a tiny decline to end at 12,415.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.3 percent to close at 1,281.06. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 2.5 percent to 2,669.86. Benchmark oil for February delivery fell 42 cents to $101.39 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell by $1.41 to end Thursday at $101.81 in New York. In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.2777 from $1.2782 late Thursday in New York. The dollar was slightly higher at 77.20 yen from 77.18 yen.
