August 2, 2002	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 22,1423

HONG KONG, Aug 1: Investors saw $43.9 billion of value wiped from emerging Asian equity holdings in July and analysts say the worst is still to come after the region’s key stock benchmark suffered its third straight month of decline.

“The bottom is probably towards the latter part of this year,” Markus Rosgen, chief equity strategist for Asia at ING Financial Markets, told Reuters.

“For the time being, in terms of aggregate losses for the MSCI Far East Free ex-Japan, I’d say it’s around 15-20 per cent more losses.” A fall on that scale would sink the index to levels last seen in November 2001, close to the post-Sept 11 trough of 146.4.

The widely-tracked Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Far East Free ex-Japan index lost 3.9 per cent from its end-June market capitalization of $445.4 billion, finishing July fractionally above the year low of 191.3 it hit on July 26.

But that sum is small beer compared to the money lost around the region, which saw every benchmark stock index in Asia — with the exception of the illiquid hard currency Shenzhen B-share market in China and Pakistan’s Karachi 100 — end in negative territory.

Collectively, emerging Asia’s 10 key stock indices, from Karachi to Seoul, saw $43.9 billion wiped from their value.

With the US Dow Jones Industrial average in its worst rut in 20 years, global gloom among investors has spurred the sell-off in Asia, ending rallies in the South Korean, Indonesian and Thai equity markets.

Widespread fears over corporate America’s accounting crisis sparked an exodus from stock markets, including those in Asia, with investors switching into risk-free US Treasury bonds.

The Korean Food & Beverages index is up 26.33 per cent so far this year.

July’s biggest percentage loser was the Jakarta Composite Index, which dropped 8.2 per cent. Capitalized at $25 billion, it had been the region’s second-best performer in the first half, just behind Karachi’s 39-per cent surge.—Reuters