Asian Stocks Close Lower Thursday

Updated from 12:36 a.m. EST

Asian stocks closed lower after three days of gains as the excitement from a Barack Obama victory in the U.S. presidential election was short-lived and weaker profit forecasts signaled the possibility of a global economic recession.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average finished down 6.5% to 8899.14. Shares of Toyota(TM Quote) tumbled. After the market closed, the automaker said second-quarter net profit fell 69% to 139.8 billion yen ($1.4 billion) and slashed its annual profit forecast because of falling sales and a stronger yen.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed lower by 7.1%, while the S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia declined 4.3%. News Corp. (NWS Quote) shares in Australia plummeted after the owner of the Wall Street Journal and other media properties said fiscal 2009 adjusted operating profit would drop by a percentage in the low- to mid-teens. The company previously forecast a gain of 4% to 6%. ...