A report from Standard & Poor's on subprime-related writedowns failed to provide much relief for Asian markets.
ZHANG: Asia markets continued downward Friday. Worries about global credit markets lingered, and even a report by credit rating agency Standard & Poor's saying an end to subprime-related writedowns was in sight did little to soothe investors.
Japan's Nikkei fell 1.5 percent to a two-and-a-half year low (12,241) as the dollar weakened through the 100 yen mark for the first time in 12 years. Exporters like Toyota and Honda were dragged down, with a weak U.S. economy and a falling dollar likely to hurt their competitiveness. Hong Kong s
tocks ended slightly lower. Oil refiner Sinopec fell on high oil prices, which may force the company to absorb mounting losses to keep supplying China with cheap fuel. Fuel prices in China are kept artificially low by the central authorities. But with oil at record highs, the country faces fuel shor
tages as refiners struggle to run at a loss. Taiwan shares fell in thin trading, with investors cautious ahead of next week's presidential elections, which could bring fresh political uncertainty to the island. In China, stocks dipped with investors still worried about a possible hard landing for
the economy after data this week showed rising inflation and a slowdown in export growth last month. One bright spot in the region, however, was Australia, with stocks closing higher--buoyed by banks and mining plays like Midwest Corp and the world's top miner BHP Billiton.

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