HONG KONG, Oct 28: Asian stocks tumbled to a much lower close on Friday, following Wall Street’s path which was led by an ailing General Motors and a possible indictment of Bush administration officials, dealers said.
They said other factors added to the gloom in Asian trade, including possible outbreaks of bird flu and the Achilles heel of equities, inflation, that could result in the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates next week.
Increased tensions in the Middle East after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” did not help.
However, overall volumes were thin with investor attention turning towards a string of holidays scheduled for many markets next week.
Seoul continued its volatile ride and shrank by 2.2 per cent while Shanghai, Sydney, Hong Kong and Mumbai were not far behind. However, Manila again bucked the trend and closed higher on select buying.
TOKYO: Share prices closed 0.53 per cent lower as investors reacted with concern to weak industrial output data and further declines in US stocks,
Dealers said investors were also reluctant to trade actively ahead of major corporate results and third-quarter US gross domestic product figures due later in the day.
The Nikkei-225 index declined 70.54 points to 13,346.54.
A series of data raised some concerns about the slow pace of recovery in Japan but no one was suggesting that there was any reason to panic just yet.
The market rose strongly through to September on growing optimism the economy was finally on the road to recovery but the latest figures may have dented some of that confidence.
Japanese industrial output rose 0.2 per cent in September compared with from the previous month, well below market expectations of 2.1 per cent, whilst consumer prices fell 0.1 per cent year-on-year in the month, pointing to a continued problem of deflation.
The latest industrial output figure were weaker-than-expected although forecasts for October and November appear to be (positive), said Kiichi Murashima, an economist at Nikko Citigroup.
I think this is due to the softer-than-expected tone in electronic devices and electric/machinery sectors. Indeed, the deflationary pressure in prices of high-tech products appeared to be still in place, which weighed on the tech sector, he said.
In the techs, NEC Electronics was off 70 yen to 3,230.
Honda lost 100 yen to 6,260 despite reporting a record first half net profit on the back of strong global vehicle sales.
Sony shed 20 yen 3,710 after its half-year net profit tumbled nearly 72 per cent on falling prices and high restructuring charges.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.15 per cent lower after further losses on Wall Street overnight, with investor sentiment also dampened by sustained worries about the possible spread of bird flu in China.
China Construction Bank, which debuted flat Thursday at its initial public offering (IPO) price of 2.35 Hong Kong dollars (30 US cents), closed unchanged again.
Newly-listed Tradelink Electronic Commerce, the government-backed electronic commerce services provider, closed at 1.34 dollars against its IPO of 1.25 dollars, but it failed to provide sufficient support to the benchmark index.
“Selling related to the settlement today of the Hang Seng October futures contracts, falls on Wall Street overnight and concerns with avian flu combined to pull down the market,” said Castor Pang, strategist at Sun Hung Kai Securities.
“Fears of a possible spread of avian flu was used by scores of investors to either stay away from the market or sell down their holdings,” he said.
Adding to investor caution is the meeting next week of the US Federal Reserve, he said.
The Hang Seng index closed down 165.23 points at 14,215.83. Turnover was 21.96 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.8 billion US).
Henderson Land fell 0.45 to 34.15, Sino Land was down 0.20 at 8.65, New World Development down 0.15 at 9.40 and Wharf Holdings down 0.65 at 25.90.
Pang said CCB did not do too badly even though it closed at 2.35 dollars, unchanged again from its IPO price and closing Thursday.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 1.13 per cent lower as investors reacted to global volatility and opted to take profits.
Dealers said the market followed the negative lead from Wall Street overnight and resources stocks were also hit by falling base metal prices.
The market’s fall was limited by the Commonwealth Bank which was in positive territory for most of the day after it announced a 500 million dollar share buy-back before closing slightly lower.
Stocks elsewhere were mostly in the red, with the gold sector the exception, buoyed by a firmer gold price.
CMC Markets senior dealer Phil Martin said global volatility had had the greatest impact on the local market but mining giant BHP Billiton had suffered from falling copper prices and downgrades of earnings estimates while Rio Tinto had also been hit by falling base metal prices.
“With stock markets around the world suffering increased volatility of late, the Australian market was no exception as the materials and energy sectors fell back sharply,” he said.
The S and P/ASX 200 index closed down 50.0 points at 4,383.0. Turnover was 1.06 billion shares worth 5.93 billion dollars (4.49 billion US).
BHP Billiton shed 0.39 to 20.10 dollars and Rio Tinto dropped 0.86 to 54.94.
The major banks were lower with Commonwealth Bank down 0.04 to 38.50 dollars, Westpac 0.02 lower to 20.38, National Australia Bank shed 0.46 to 32.68 and ANZ dropped 0.18 to 23.19.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.43 per cent weaker , extending losses as investors took profits ahead of the weekend.
Dealers said trading interest is expected to remain thin next week because of the public holidays that fall on Tuesday and Thursday.
Sentiment is rather weak today and people are still taking profits, said a dealer at a local brokerage.
For next week, I think trading may also be lackluster because of the holidays, he added.
The Straits Times Index fell 9.49 points to 2,192.41. Volume traded totalled 705 million shares worth 728 million Singapore dollars (433 million US).
Singapore Airlines was steady at $11.20 on lingering concerns high jet fuel prices will continue to affect the carrier’s bottomline, dealers said.
The airline on Thursday announced net profit in the second quarter to September fell an annual 0.9 per cent to $343.2 million because of higher fuel bills.
For the other blue chips, Singapore Telecommunications dropped three cents to 2.33, while Singapore Press Holdings was steady at 4.44 and ST Engineering lost two cents to 2.53.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.15 per cent higher in sluggish trade, helped by last minute buying of blue chips.
Dealers said investors also remained sidelined before a long holiday stretch in the week ahead, which includes the Hindu Deepavali festival on November 1, followed by the Muslim Hari Raya Aidil Fitri on November 2 and 3.
“There was weak participation as investors stay sidelined ahead of the weekend and extended festival holidays next week, but the last minute buying of funds pushed the index into positive territory,” a local brokerage dealer said.
The Composite Index gained 1.33 points to 905.79 and volume traded was 277.18 million shares, worth 645.94 million ringgit (171.12 million dollars).
Among blue chips, Tenaga Nasional was up 0.10 ringgit at 10.10, Telekom Malaysia was down 0.05 at 9.75 while Malayan Banking added 0.10 to 11.50.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.51 per cent lower led by telecommunications company Indosat after it reported weaker-than-expected third quarter results.
“The trigger behind the market’s fall was the decline in the earnings results of companies such as Indosat,” said Andalan Artha Advisindo Sekuritas analyst Bagus Hananto.
He said Telkom’s share price was also affected by Indosat’s fall.
“Investors are concerned Telkom may see a similar drop (in net profit) because of its high foreign exchange exposure.”
The Composite Index closed down 5.441 points at 1,058.256 on volume of 1.50 billion shares worth 940.19 billion rupiah (94 million dollars).
Indosat fell 150 rupiah to 4,900 while Telkom ended flat at 5,050.
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.5 per cent lower, in line with weaker offshore markets.
First NZ Capital’s research manager Barry Lindsay said the market appeared to be taking a broad view.
It’s interesting how the market — while it’s weighed down by more macro issues about interest rates, weaker world equity markets and the level of the currency — does also look closely at what companies are saying about how they are performing, he said.
The NZSX-50 gross index fell 16.21 points to 3,270.75 on turnover of 111.1 million New Zealand dollars (78 million US).
New Zealand Refining Company gained 25 cents, or almost 5.0 per cent, to 5.40 dollars after it forecast a 40 per cent rise in its full year profit and announced plans to look at boosting capacity.
MUMBAI: Share prices fell below the 7,700 mark as overseas and domestic funds continued to sell index stocks amid weak sentiment.
The Sensex index fell 112.85 points or 1.45 per cent to 7,685.64. Turnover was low at 25.73 billion rupees ($571 million).
The outflows continue to dampen sentiment. The outlook for global equities is also poor and with liquidity now drying up, there is no buying support even at lower levels, said Atul Hatwar with brokerage Crosseas Securities.
A rare gainer was Bharti Tele, which closed 5.5 per cent up after world leader Vodafone Group Plc announced it was picking up a 10 per cent stake in Bharti Televentures Ltd for $1.5 billion.—AFP
