HONG KONG, July 8, 2009 (AFP) - Stocks fell in Asia Wednesday, with Tokyo posting a sixth successive loss, after a dive on Wall Street and on fears that a global recovery is still a long way off.

Grim data out of Japan sent the Nikkei 2.35 percent lower.

Manufacturing orders in the world's second-biggest economy fell to their lowest since records began in 1987.

And a survey showed that in June 1,422 firms went bankrupt, up 18.2 percent from the previous month, while for the first half of 2009, corporate failures totalled 8,169, the most for the January-June period in six years.

Exporters were hurt as the yen advanced against the dollar, while Hong Kong fell 0.79 percent, Singapore 0.55 percent and Shanghai 0.28 percent. Mumbai dropped almost three percent to a six-week low. Sydney remained flat.

Dealers also took a hit from New York's near-two percent dive on Tuesday, which was led by cautious trade ahead of the corporate reporting season that starts in the US Wednesday.

Commodities firms also lost out as oil continued to plummet.

Jakarta was closed for presidential elections.

TOKYO: Down 2.35 percent. The Nikkei-225 dropped 227.04 points to 9,420.75.

The index fell below the key 9,500-level for the first time since June 1.

"The government figures 'damped investors' expectations for a recovery in the economy," Motomi Hiratsuka, a market watcher at BNP Paribas, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The sell-off accelerated as the yen rose to seven-week highs against the euro and the dollar, pushing exporters.

Honda Motor fell 5.5 percent to 2,390 yen (S$36.57) and Tokyo Electron slipped 5.2 percent to 4,340 yen.

The dollar dropped to 94.15 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade - the lowest since May 22 - from 94.81 in New York late Tuesday.

HONG KONG: Down 0.79 percent. The Hang Seng Index ended down 141.20 points at 17,721.07.

The index has fallen for six of the past seven sessions.

Index heavyweights HSBC fell 0.9 percent to 62.95 dollars and China Mobile lost 1 percent to 73.85 dollars.

CNOOC fell 1.4 percent to 8.90 dollars.

Most Hong Kong-listed Chinese property companies fell on concerns Beijing will take action over home sales and mortgage loan applications after a sharp rise in home sales in the first half of the year.

China Overseas Land fell 2.9 percent to 16.76 dollars and Soho China fell 5.1 percent to 4.65 dollars.

SYDNEY: Flat. The S&P/ASX200 edged up one point, or 0.03 percent, to 3,767.9.

CMC Markets market analyst David Taylor said doubts that the US reporting season would show an economic recovery was under way and rising oil prices weighed on the market.

BHP Billiton fell 11 cents to 32.14 dollars, while rival Rio Tinto was up 85 cents to 48.20. Santos eased 26 cents to 12.97.

National Australia Bank rose 42 cents to 22.09, Commonwealth Bank closed up 27 cents at 37.26 and ANZ gained 40 cents to 16.30.

Telstra rose four cents to 3.36 and Singapore Telecommunications lifted seven cents at 2.63.

SHANGHAI: Down 0.28 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was down 8.68 points to 3,080.77.

"Expectations for a quick economic recovery were dampened by the continued decline in oil prices and rising risk appetite among global investors," Jacky Zhang, an analyst at Capital Securities, said.

Investors also chose to stay on the sidelines to see whether Beijing is fine-tuning its monetary policy, traders said.

China Merchants Bank fell 1.9 percent to 18.28 yuan and Bank of China was down 2.0 percent at 4.52 yuan.

PetroChina shed 1.6 percent to 14.59 yuan, and China Petroleum and Chemical fell 1.7 percent to 11.60 yuan.

TAIPEI: Down 0.70 percent. The weighted index fell 47.08 points to 6,668.14.

Buying in electronics shares, which made up for 61 percent of the trade, kept the index off the intraday low of 6,629.83, said Taiwan International Securities trader Andrew Teng.

The electronics sector shed 0.13 percent, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co falling 1.80 percent to 54.40 Taiwan dollars.

LED maker Epistar rose 2.20 percent to 92.00 after announcing solid June revenue figures.

Construction lost 2.28 percent on profit-taking. Huang Hsiang Construction was down 4.70 percent at 69.30.

SEOUL: Down 0.22 percent. The KOSPI ended down 3.18 points at 1,431.02.

"The last-minute turnaround of technology and auto stocks amid ongoing earnings optimism helped the broad market trim most of its early losses," Oh Tae-Dong, an analyst at Taurus Investment and Securities, said.

Steelmaker POSCO dropped 1.2 percent to 420,000 won due to gloomy analyst outlooks for its second-quarter earnings results.

Shippers and shipbuilders also lost ground amid a lack of earnings momentum, with STX Pan Ocean falling 4.5 percent to 10,600 won.

Samsung Electronics ended 0.8 percent higher at 655,000 won while Hyundai Motor rose 2.8 percent to 78,200 won.

SINGAPORE: Down 0.55 percent. The Straits Times Index fell 12.49 points to 2,259.77.

Traders said investors were reluctant to buy despite cheaper prices because of the absence of firm signs of an economic rebound.

Singapore Airlines fell six cents to 12.82, oil rig maker Keppel Corp eased three cents to 6.60 and shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines lost two cents to 1.42. Singapore Telecom bucked the downtrend to end seven cents higher at 3.06.

KUALA LUMPUR: Flat. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 0.89 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 1,065.47.

Among palm oil producers, IOI Corp lost 1.30 percent to 4.60 ringgit and Sime Darby was down 0.70 percent to 7.20.

On the upside, top bank Maybank gained 1.80 percent to 5.75 ringgit while glove maker Supermax rose 10.80 percent to 1.85.

BANGKOK: Down 1.30 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand lost 7.61 points to close at 575.87.

MANILA: Down 0.39 percent. The composite index fell 9.77 points to 2,461.99.

"Following the two-day recovery in the market, appetite is slowing even with the expectation of (an interest) rate cut," Ron Rodrigo of DBP-Daiwa Securities said.

The central bank is to announce whether it will lower rates Thursday, two days after the data shoed June inflation fell to a 22-year low of 1.5 percent.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone slipped 1.27 percent to 2,335 pesos while Ayala Corp. dropped 2.70 percent to 270 pesos.

Manila Electric Co. gained 4.97 percent to 169 pesos.

WELLINGTON: Up 0.16 percent. The NZX-50 rose 4.36 points to 2,750.60.

Brokers said just as the market was closing a late order for Telecom shares saw 2.5 million shares traded.

The firm closed 10 cents higher at 2.80 dollars, the price at which the order was placed.

"It turned the day from a minus day to a positive, and turnover is dramatically up," said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities.

Contact Energy fell two cents to 5.63 dollars and Air New Zealand rose two cents to 89 cents.

MUMBAI: Down 2.83 percent. The 30-share Sensex fell 401.3 points to 13,769.15, its lowest level in near six weeks.