Asian Stocks close: stock markets were down due to rising concerns over tensions between Russia and Ukraine

Asian stock markets were down due to rising concerns over tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The Japanese index Nikkei 225 declined caused by a strong yen and the weaker-than-expected earnings of some companies. The Japanese stock market will be closed for a public holiday tomorrow.

The stock indexes in China and Hong Kong dropped amid increasing concerns over new initial public offering listings.

Indexes on the close:

Nikkei 225                    14,288.23      -141.03      -0.98%

Hang Seng                   22,132.53     -91.00        -0.41%

Shanghai Composite    2,003.49       -33.03        -1.62%

Honda Motor Co. shares declined 4.5% because of the worse-than-expected earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015.

Nippon Sheet Glass was down over 8%.

Newcrest Mining increased 5.7%.

Yahoo Japan Corp. dropped 6.2% after announcing earnings missed the company’s own forecast.

Japan Display Inc. shares, supplies screens to Apple Inc., were down 16% after reporting earnings missed the company’s own forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014.