Asian Markets Fall On Weak Chinese Data, Europe Concerns

Asian markets fell Thursday as weak exports data from China and concerns surrounding Greece and Spain dampened sentiments.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.39 percent or 35.41 points to touch 9009.65, a three-month closing low. Nikkei fell to 8895.90, the lowest since Feb. 14 when the country's central bank expanded the asset purchase program.

Market sentiment was negative as China reported weak growth in exports, which rose 4.9 percent in April from a year earlier, less than the 8.9 percent increase recorded in March. The continuing debt crisis in Europe and a soft U.S. recovery have hurt China's crucial export sector.

The eurozone crisis remained in the spotlight as Greece continues to struggle to form a government after voters rejected further austerity, raising concerns in the market. Greece's political future remains highly uncertain after the New Democracy party failed to form a coalition with the far left Syriza party, which is against the EU-IMF program.

The continuing uncertainty over the formation of a government in Greece has heightened fears that Greece could leave the eurozone as soon as the end of this year. Investors feel that the chances of the government defaulting within a matter of weeks or months have grown.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.51 percent, or 103.36 points, to 20227.28. Shares of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. fell 2.2 percent to HK$7.70 and shares of PetroChina Co. declined to 3.2 percent to HK$10.400.

South Korea's KOSPI fell slightly to 0.27 percent, or 5.36 points, to 1944.93, while the Shanghai composite index gained by 0.07 percent, or 1.64 points, to 2410.23.