HONG KONG, Oct 5: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday after comments from senior US Federal Reserve officials on the danger of rising prices and the need for higher interest rates sparked a heavy bout of profit-taking, dealers said.
The message from the Fed officials was unusually direct, with one describing inflation as nearing the Federal Reserve’s danger zone, prompting a quick reversal of Tuesday’s confident tone when investors pushed several markets to record levels.
Dealers said that after recent sustained gains some consolidation was only to be expected but conceded that the Fed comments had quite an impact on investors used to more ambiguous language.
They now expect a correction of perhaps as much as five per cent overall, which would take some of the froth out of the markets and help build a base for a subsequent advance.
On the day, among the recent record breakers, Sydney was down 2.16 per cent for the biggest one-day fall in more than three years, Seoul shed 1.2 per cent and Mumbai fell 0.86 per cent.
Rounding out the heavy losers, Hong Kong lost 1.44 per cent, with some selling attributed to investors raising funds for the upcoming record IPO of the mainland’s third largest lender, China Construction Bank.
TOKYO: Share prices closed 0.36 per cent lower as investors took profits on recent sharp gains.
Dealers said sentiment was dented by a slump on Wall Street overnight but that the downturn was expected to be short-lived, with optimism over the world’s second largest economy prevailing.
On Tuesday, Japanese share prices had risen sharply to a fresh four-year high on hopes that a strong dollar would translate into greater earnings for Japanese exporters. However, the dollar slipped in early Asian trade Wednesday ahead of US jobs data.
The Nikkei-225 index fell 48.95 points to 13,689.89 on volume of 2.9 billion shares.
In the chip sector, Oki Electric Industry fell 11 yen to 409 and Elpida Memory dropped 70 yen to 3,510. Shipbuilders were sluggish as Mitsubihsi Heavy Industries fell 13 yen to 381, Sumitomo Heavy Industries dropped 38 yen to 723 and Kawasaki Heavy Industries shed 10 yen to 275.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.44 per cent lower following falls on Wall Street overnight after Fed officials expressed concern over rising US inflation, pointing to the need to raise interest rates further.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 221.18 points at 15,161.03. Turnover was 23 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.9 billion US).
China Unicom closed down 0.20 at 6.35 dollars while China Mobile lost 1.30 at 36.50. Elsewhere among China-related stocks, PetroChina was down 0.10 at 6.35, CNOOC fell 0.10 at 5.40 and Chalco dropped 0.15 at 4.725.
SYDNEY: Share prices plunged more than two per cent in the market’s biggest one-day fall for more than three years amid profit taking and fears US interest rate rises.
The SP/ASX 200 fell 100.1 points or 2.16 per cent to end at its low for the day of 4,543.5. Market turnover was 1.33 billion shares worth 4.59 billion dollars (3.53 billion US).
It was the biggest market fall since July 24, 2002, and dealers warned there could be more to come in a market viewed as fully valued after setting a succession of record highs last month.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed little changed, supported by gains in selected stocks as the market held up quite well against a regional sell-off sparked by concerns of further US interest rate hikes.
The Straits Times Index added 2.12 points to settle at 2,325.89. Volume totalled 1.21 billion shares valued at 1.09 billion dollars (645 million US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.30 per cent higher led by plantation stocks on expectations of higher crude palm oil prices after positive comment on the industry outlook.
The composite index gained 2.75 points to 927.51 and volume was 469.33 million shares, worth 725.21 million ringgit (192.27 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.26 per cent higher, boosted by gains in car distributor Astra International and in blue chip Indosat.
The composite index was up 2.889 points at 1,104.055 on volume of 1.51 billion shares worth 1.47 trillion rupiah (143.23 million dollars.)
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.63 per cent lower on profit-taking after breaching record highs in recent days.
The NZSX-50 index fell 21.82 points to 3,446.42 on turnover of 153.1 million dollars (106.5 million US).
MUMBAI: Share prices ended their recent run with the key index falling 0.86 Per cent amid falls in markets elsewhere in the region, dealers said.
The 30-share Sensex index dropped 75.49 points to 8,724.47.—AFP
