Asian Markets Open Mixed and Mildly to the Downside

Auto makers and Electronic companies lead the Nikkei down 1%+

March 10 (Bloomberg) — Asian automakers and consumer- electronics stocks fell on concern the deepening global recession will cause profits to deteriorate further, offsetting gains by energy companies.

Toyota Motor Corp., which gets about 37 percent of revenue in North America, dropped 1.7 percent after billionaire Warren Buffett said the U.S. economy “has fallen off a cliff.” Sony Corp., which gets a quarter of its sales from the U.S., declined 2.1 percent. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-largest oil producer, climbed 2.4 percent as oil rose for a third day.

“Hopefully, the accelerating deterioration of company profits will slow, but the earnings trend will remain in a downward trajectory,” Mamoru Shimode, an equity strategist at Resona Trust & Banking Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

About the same number of stocks rose as fell on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which lost 0.3 percent to 70.41 as of 10:56 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge has slumped 21 percent this year, extending last year’s record 43 percent tumble as the global recession decimated profits at companies from Toyota to Sony.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.8 percent to 7,032.58, while South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 0.6 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.2 percent, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.5 percent.

Futures on Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.4 percent today, following a 1 percent decline in the measure to 676.53 yesterday. The gauge is likely to drop to 600 or lower this year as the recession intensifies, Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the financial crisis, said.

Metal Prices

Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted its worst results ever in 2008, yesterday said the U.S. economy “can’t turn around on a dime,” and efforts to stimulate recovery may lead to inflation higher than in the 1970s.

Toyota fell 1.7 percent to 2,840 yen and Sony dropped 2.1 percent to 1,727 yen in Tokyo on concern demand will weaken as the world’s biggest economy deteriorates. Honda Motor Co., which makes 51 percent of its revenue in North America, lost 2.6 percent to 2,050 yen.

Woodside gained 2.4 percent to A$36.76. Inpex Corp., Japan’s largest oil explorer, added 1.4 percent to 657,000 yen. Oil futures in New York rose 0.5 percent to $47.27 a barrel in after-hours, electronic trading, taking gains in the past three days to 8.4 percent.