Asian Stocks Finish With Losses

Updated from 12:43 a.m. EST

Asian stocks closed lower Thursday with shares in Japan hitting a two-week low as the U.S. government scrapped its plan to buy up toxic assets, and companies slashed sales and earnings forecasts.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed down 5.3% to 8238.64, its worst close since Oct. 29. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong declined 5.2%, while the S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia finished lower by 5.9%. Bucking the trend, the Shanghai composite in China rose 3.7%.

A stronger yen hurt the shares of exporters such as Sony(SNE Quote) and Panasonic(PC Quote). Technology stocks also traded to the downside after Intel(INTC Quote) on Wednesday sharply reduced its fourth-quarter sales expectations, citing "significantly" weaker-than-expected demand in all regions and across all product types. ...