UPDATE:Asian Shares End Down;Metal Stocks Tank, Some Banks Up

Asian markets ended with deep losses Thursday after large declines on Wall Street sapped investors' risk appetite.

Japan's Nikkei 225 ended 1.8% lower at 9891.10, finishing below 10000 for the first time since Oct. 8 after shedding at least 1.3% in each of the previous two sessions. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.4% to also end at its lowest level in three weeks. South Korea's Kospi gave up 1.5% and Taiwan's Taiex lost 2.4% bringing the two indexes to their worst closing level this month.

"Global equity markets are selling off as that dirty four letter word--R-I-S-K--reasserts itself after a monstrous rally that has far exceeded macro fundamentals," said Gluskin Sheff Chief Economist David A. Rosenberg.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index skidded 2.3% while the Shanghai Composite contracted 2.3%, Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.6% and India's Sensex sank 1.4%, which were recently up 20 points in screen trade after shedding more than 100 points in three of the last four sessions.

Indonesia's JSX index was also hit hard, falling more than 5% in early trading before recovering to end down 0.5%. "The selloff could show that some investors, mostly foreigners, are switching their portfolios from high-risk assets in emerging markets to international bonds in the U.S.," said Adrian Russian, a director at Sucorinvest Securities.

DBS Vickers strategist Yeo Kee Yan said concerns about a rising U.S. dollar as a safe-haven play were also a factor. "We have seen the hot money flowing into Asia and commodity plays recently, but if the U.S. dollar rises, these dollar carry trades will unwind."

The U.S. dollar extended its recent gains against major currencies during the session, before slipping back. The dollar-index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was recently 0.2% lower at 76.31.

The euro was recently buying $1.4739 from $1.4704 late in New York, after falling as low as $1.4682 earlier in the day. It was also fetching 133.80 yen from 133.55 yen in New York. The Australian dollar fell as low as 89.58 U.S. cents before also rebounding. It was recently buying 90.24 cents. RBS Strategist Greg Gibbs said the Australian dollar remained firmly in an uptrend. "The basic underlying tenets of the Australian dollar recovery this year are still very much in place."

Metal and mining stocks were among Thursday's leading decliners across the region after commodity prices dropped sharply overnight in the face of U.S. dollar strength. Nippon Light Metal lost 3.6% in Tokyo, Rio Tinto skidded 4.9% and Newcrest Mining fell 4.3% in Sydney. Posco tumbled 5.1% and Korea Zinc shed 4.7% in Seoul. Aluminum Corp. of China fell 6.4% and Jiangxi Copper lost 5% in Shanghai, and 3.3% and 2.4% respectively, in Hong Kong.

Hyundai Steel fell 5.8% after the company said it would cut hot-rolled coil prices from November 1 due to a drop in prices of steel scrap and imports, while SK Energy shed 2.7% on news of a 46% drop in third quarter net profit.

NEC Electronics sank 8.3% in Tokyo after its net loss for the fiscal second-quarter widened on year and the company said it now expected a much wider loss for the full business year. Advantest lost 6.6% after the memory-chip testing systems specialist posted a net loss of 3.30 billion yen for the fiscal second-quarter, as cost cuts and other steps failed to offset a slump in sales.

Several financials outperformed after a set of strong quarterly results across the region. Nomura Holdings gained 0.5% in Tokyo, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. climbed 1.6% in Singapore trading and Bank of Baroda added 1.1% in Mumbai after their quarterly results Wednesday.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group rose 0.9% in Wellington and fell 2.1% in Sydney, but still outperformed the market and other major banks. ANZ's full-year net profit fell 11%, but the bank showed increasing confidence that loan losses were beginning to stabilize.

Real-estate developers tumbled in Shanghai on concerns of a potential decline in the number of property sales as Beijing's property transaction tax cut measures will expire at the end of the year. Beijing Huaye Real Estate fell 6% and Poly Real Estate shed 3.8%.

Nine Dragons plunged 11.5% in Hong Kong, resuming trade after announcing it was raising $2.87 billion Hong Kong dollars ($370 million) through a share sale. In a weak Taipei market, Fubon Financial Holding fell 4.4% as investors grew impatient with the delay in the cross-Straits financial memorandum of understanding that many had expected to be signed soon.

Japanese government bonds were supported by the drop in Tokyo shares. The lead futures contract was up 0.33 at 138 points, while the 10-year cash yield fell 1.5 basis points to 1.405%.

Crude extended its losses after a fall of more than $2 in New York which came on an unexpected build in gasoline stocks and a stronger U.S. dollar. Nymex December crude was recently down 32 cents at $77.14 a barrel on Globex. Spot gold, meanwhile, climbed $3.70 to $1,031.40.