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HONG KONG, Jan 10: Asian stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday as profit taking resumed after a lacklustre performance by Wall Street and in Japan where investors are increasingly concerned about an interest rate hike.
Tokyo slumped 1.71 per cent on a rate hike prospect as early as next week and this did not help sentiment elsewhere in the region where Jakarta tumbled 3.96 per cent, Singapore fell 1.57 per cent and Seoul slumped 1.35 per cent.
Mumbai shed 1.50 per cent, Sydney was down 1.23 per cent, Hong Kong by 1.66 per cent and Taipei by 1.17 per cent while losses in Manila, and Kuala Lumpur were more modest.
Bucking the trend were Shanghai and Wellington, with both ending slightly higher for record closes, and Bangkok where the benchmark rose 0.90 per cent as investor nerves calmed after changes to foreign ownership rules.
TOKYO: Share prices closed down 1.71 per cent, sinking below 17,000 points as investors fretted about whether the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates next week.
Dealers said players opted to cash in some more of their gains from late last year after a mixed US performance overnight and a drop in world oil prices that pressured energy shares.
The Nikkei-225 index dropped 295.37 points to 16,942.40. Volume rose to 2.09 billion shares from 2.05 billion on Tuesday.
The losses on the market here were due profit-taking, said Hideyui Suzuki, a strategist at SBI Securities.
Matsushita Electric Industrial fell 85 yen or 3.58 per cent to 2,290 as the company prepared to announce its business plan. The company later confirmed press reports that it will build the world's largest plasma television plant.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.66 per cent lower, extending a correction for the third straight session as investors continued to take profits in China and property stocks.
Dealers said a steep fall on the Japanese market and a lacklustre showing on Wall Street overnight weighed on sentiment.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 329.74 points at 19,568.34. Turnover was 64 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.2 billion US dollars).
Ben Kwong, research head at KGI Asia, said property stocks and China plays bore the brunt of profit-taking pressure given their recent run-up.
The market was affected by Tokyo's sharp losses today. There are some worries that investors may be pulling out of the region, although there are no clear indications of this happening, he said.
China Life lost 1.75 at 23.85.
SYDNEY: Share prices fell 1.23 per cent amid uncertainty in resources and weakness in the banking sector.
The SP/ASX 200 dropped 68.8 points to 5,520.9. A total of 1.68 billion shares traded, worth 5.66 billion dollars (4.41 US).
Reynolds and Co. private client advisor Michael Heffernan said there was uncertainty about the near-term direction of commodity prices even though longer-term indicators suggested continuing strong global economic growth.
He said the market was likely to remain volatile ahead of December half-profit reports next month but a lack of profit-warnings suggested another healthy reporting season.
BHP Billiton shares lost 0.69 to 24.01.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed below 3,000 points for the first time this year, tracking steep falls in key regional markets.
DBS Group Holdings was down 0.70 at 21.90.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.52 per cent lower on profit-taking in line with steep falls across the region, with key blue chips accounting for most of the losses.
The composite index shed 5.77 points to 1,113.19 on volume of 1.0 billion shares valued at 1.77 billion ringgit (506 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 3.96 per cent lower with sentiment dampened by falls in East Asian markets and Thailand's move to limit foreign ownership in strategic industries.
The composite index closed down 70.514 points at 1,710.367 on volume of 4.39 billion shares valued at 3.64 trillion rupiah (400.88 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: Share prices rose 0.28 per cent for another record finish as top stock Telecom led the broader market higher.
The NZX-50 gross index added 11.42 points to 4,064.08. Turnover was 102.4 million dollars (70.7 million US).
Telecom rose 14 cents or nearly three per cent to 4.89 dollars and contributed nearly half of the market's total turnover.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed down 1.50 per cent, a fifth straight day of losses as investors sold software firms ahead of quarterly earnings.
Infosys is expected to show a 53 per cent gain in quarterly net profit, according to analyst estimates. The 30-share Mumbai stock exchange Sensex fell 204.17 points to 13,362.16.—AFP
