November 09, 2006	Thursday	Shawwal 16, 1427

HONG KONG, Nov 8: Asian stocks tumbled on Wednesday as investors fled to the sidelines and waited as voters in the United States went to the polls for congressional elections.

Investors watched nervously as the Democrats seized power in the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994 and edged closer to taking the Senate, weighing on the US currency.

As a result Tokyo fell 1.08 per cent, Hong Kong closed down 0.68 per cent and Seoul lost 0.53 per cent. Sydney dropped 0.59 per cent as a 25 basis points rise in Australian interest rates to 6.25 per cent weighed on investor sentiment.

Mumbai, Wellington, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta were also lower while Taipei and Bangkok were flat. However, Kuala Lumpur bucked the trend and made slight gains after lagging regional gains over recent weeks.

Share prices in Tokyo tumbled 1.08 per cent as nervous investors awaited final results from the US election in which opposition Democrats won at least one chamber of Congress.

Dealers said much of the losses were due to local factors, however, such as nervousness about the Japanese economic recovery.—AFP