August 11, 2007	Saturday	Rajab 26, 1428

HONG KONG, Aug 10: Asian stocks were hammered on Friday by a global rout after heavy losses on US and European markets as investors fled for shelter from the US housing woes.

Dealers said investors were alarmed by signs that the fallout from the US subprime mortgage problems was spreading to other regions.

If there is one thing investors hate it is uncertainty, and with the risk of more skeletons in the closet, few people were in the mood to buy.

News that the US, Eurozone, Japanese and other central banks had pumped massive amounts of cash into the financial system only appeared to add to the sense of nervousness on global markets about the US mortgage market troubles.

If the central banks actions aimed to reassure investors then they took it the other way and took the viewe the problem could be bigger than initially thought because the central banks had to intervene.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed down 2.37 per cent at a near five-month low, mirroring sharp losses on other global bourses amid growing concern about problems in credit markets.

Dealers said news that the Bank of Japan had pumped cash into the financial system to try to ease a liquidity squeeze, following similar moves by the US and Eurozone central banks, had only added to the nervousness.

The Nikkei-225 index dropped 406.51 points to 16,764.09.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed sharply lower, down 2.88 per cent, as fears of a global credit crisis sparked by US subprime mortgage problems dominated trading throughout the day.

Trade was closed earlier than normal due to a typhoon warning.

The Hang Seng index closed down 646.65 points at 21,792.71. Turnover was 65.46 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.36 billion US).

The sharp selloff is due to only one reason, fears that more funds and other investors will get hit by the crisis in the US subprime mortgage market, said Eugene Law, head of research at Celestial Asia Securities Holdings.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed sharply lower, tumbling 3.7 per cent as the market followed heavy losses in the US and European markets on fears about the growing fallout from problems in the US home loans sector.

The S&P/ASX 200 plunged 229.6 points at 5,936.0. Market turnover reached 2.61 billion shares worth 8.88 billion Australian dollars.

He said offshore investors facing margin calls were likely to have been sellers.

Telstra lost 18 cents to 4.34 dollars.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.6 per cent lower as investors rushed for the exit amid fears the US subprime mortgage crisis is spreading.

The Straits Times Index fell 53.99 points to 3,359.18 on volume of 2.27 billion shares worth 2.95 billion Singapore dollars (1.94 billion US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed sharply lower in line with an Asian selldown over fears the US subprime woes could develop into a global credit crisis.

Dealers said the market held up relatively well compared to other regional bourses which plunged between three to four per cent.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 1.5 per cent lower on worries over the US subprime credit crisis although the main index came off its lows.

Dealers said investors found some comfort from a statement made by the head of the country's capital market watchdog that the meltdown in the US subprime mortgage market was unlikely to have any impact on the Indonesian economy.

The composite index closed down 34.01 points at 2,207.40 on volume of 3.2 billion shares valued at 3.07 trillion rupiah (329 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares closed down 1.2 per cent, with strong interest in Telecom preventing a sharper fall over concerns of a US credit crunch.

The NZSX-50 index closed down 50.58 points at 4,109.84 on turnover totalling 163.5 million dollars (121.24 million US).

It was recovering from a 10-month low on Monday in the wake of its annual result last week and amid concerns about industry regulation.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices fell 1.54 per cent in volatile trade with investors spooked by a credit crunch linked to the troubled US mortgage sector.

The Sensex index closed down 231.9 points to 14,868.25, recovering from a 3.6 per cent drop in the morning to 14,570.89.

Overseas funds have led the fall by selling almost a billion dollars of Indian equities in the past two weeks to take total overseas equity investment to 9.7 billion dollars this year from a high of 10.5 billion dollars, official data showed Thursday.Investors are not keen to build up positions ahead of the weekend.

The global cues will continue to dictate trends in the coming week, said Atul Mehra, capital markets head of Mumbai-based brokerage JM Financial.—AFP