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HONG KONG, July 11: Asian stocks closed lower on Wednesday as selling escalated after Wall Street's weak performance on the back of profit warnings and a lack of direction over the next moves on interest rates.
Interest rate jitters were heightened after a much anticipated speech by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke left investors with no clear guidance on inflation and interest rates.
New York's impact coupled with a desire to cash-up after benchmarks recently struck record and multi-year highs helped push regional markets broadly lower with Hong Kong slumping 1.22 per cent and Tokyo down 1.11 percent.
TOKYO: Share prices slumped 1.11 per cent as investors fretted about losses on Wall Street and a looming interest rate decision by the Bank of Japan.
Dealers said that although the Japanese central bank is not expected to raise its super-low benchmark rate at the two-day meeting that started Wednesday, the market hopes for clues on when the next rate hike will come.
The Nikkei-225 index fell 203.16 points to 18,049.51. Turnover rose to 1.98 billion shares from 1.84 billion Tuesday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.22 per cent lower , snapping a six-session record-breaking run as profit-taking gathered pace following a big slide on Wall Street overnight.
Dealers said China financials and select blue chips came under selling pressure after leading the rally in recent sessions.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 278.82 points at 22,607.02. Turnover was heavy 100.90 billion Hong Kong dollars (13 billion US).
The market saw a very normal downside after gaining more than 2,000 points since mid-June, said Matthew Kwok, research head at Tanrich Securities.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.57 per cent lower Wednesday as investor sentiment was hit by a sharp sell-off on Wall Street overnight.
Dealers said the negative US lead was enough to encourage some profit-taking in cautious trade, with investors nervous to see if Wall Street will continue lower against a backdrop of increasing concerns over problems in the US mortgage market.
The S&P/ASX 200 was down 36.4 points at 6,325.1. Turnover was 1.81 billion shares worth 5.7 billion dollars (4.9 billion US).
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.70 per cent lower on profit-taking after recent strong gains.
The Straits Times Index closed 25.38 points lower at 3,594.94 on volume of 3.82 billion shares worth 2.77 billion Singapore dollars (1.83 billion US).
“The market is reacting to Wall Street last night, and Hong Kong was also down quite a bit,” a dealer at a local brokerage said. “But the overall market is still okay as select stocks were going up on specific news leads
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.89 per cent lower as Wall Street's weak performance overnight dampened sentiment, with heavyweights Tenaga and Maybank leading falls.
The composite index lost 12.18 points to 1,359.27 on volume of 1.346 billion shares valued at 2.429 billion ringgit (704.0 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.39 percent lower as investors opted to cash in gains after Wall Street's slide overnight.
But dealers said gains in select big caps such as Telkom and in some lower liners such as Astra Agro and Semen Gresik limited the market's fall.
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.17 per cent lower with falls on the Australian and US markets providing little inspiration for local investors.
The NZX-50 index was 7.16 points down at 4,229.69 on turnover worth 130.63 million dollars (100.66 million US).
Trading was quiet, with Wall St down on concerns about sub-prime mortgages and “Australia's not playing ball either,” said Greenslades broker Paul Valk.
Telecom was down two cents at 4.63 dollars.
MUMBAI: Share prices fell 0.66 per cent after India's second biggest software exporter Infosys Technologies released its full-year earnings forecast.
The 30-share Sensex index fell 99.26 points to 14,910.62.—AFP
