0
HONG KONG, Nov 20: Asian stocks closed sharply lower on Monday amid heavy profit taking which gathered pace after Tokyo slumped 2.27 per cent with the economic outlook there turning more cautious.
Even another record close on Wall Street and falling oil prices failed to lift sentiment with investors conscious that many regional benchmarks are still trading near record and multi-year highs.
Falling metal prices also weighed on Sydney which fell 1.80 per cent, Singapore tumbled 1.49 per cent, Hong Kong was down 1.19 per cent and Bangkok shed 1.03 per cent. Taipei, Mumbai and Manila were flat.
TOKYO: Share prices slumped to the lowest level for almost two months, closing below 16,000 points as investors fretted about the local economic outlook.
The Nikkei-225 fell 365.79 points or 2.27pc to 15,725.94. Volume rose to 1.94 billion shares from 1.71 billion on Friday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.19 per cent lower on profit-taking in heavyweights China Mobile and HSBC following recent gains.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed down 1.8pc, led by banks and resource stocks after a fall in metal prices.
The SP/ASX 200 retreated 97.3 points to 5,322.4. A total of 2.14 billion shares worth 7.9 billion dollars (6.1 billion US) changed hands.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.49 per cent lower as investors took profits after a recent bull run that pushed the index to record highs.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed sharply lower after profit-taking in blue chips kept the benchmark index under pressure.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.71 per cent higher at a new record finish led by foreign buying of blue chip stocks.
WELLINGTON: share prices closed 0.18 per cent lower with a mixed performance by top stocks and little corporate news to stimulate trading.
The NZX-50 index fell 7.02 points to 3,809.21 on turnover worth 74.7 million New Zealand dollars (49.2 million US).
MUMBAI: Share prices closed flat in volatile trade, recovering from sharp morning losses when investors locked-in gains after a sustained run-up.—AFP
