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HONG KONG, Aug 29: Asian stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as anxiety returned over the health of the US economy, raising new fears of a global credit squeeze.But Tokyo and other key markets pared sharp early losses in late trade as investors hunted for bargains and looked to the strengths in their own economies.
European markets also opened down after the double whammy of bad news Tuesday from the United States, delievered as Merrill Lynch downgraded its earnings forecasts for major US investment banks.
Global markets have taken a beating in recent weeks due to concern about the US subprime mortgage market, in which housing loans were extended to borrowers with patchy pasts who are now defaulting.
Tokyo ended down 1.69 per cent. Shanghai, which has weathered the subprime crisis better than most regional bourses, was down 1.52 per cent on concern that the domestic issue of an initial 80 billion dollars would drain liquidity.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed down 1.69 per cent on renewed concern about the US economy but the market pared early losses as the yen fell back from recent highs.
The benchmark index ended just a notch above the symbolic 16,000-point level after slipping below it in early trade for the first time in a week.
Tokyo and other Asian markets fell earlier Wednesday on concern over a sharp drop on Wall Street, where investors were alarmed by bad news in the United States on consumer confidence and the beleaguered housing sector.
The Nikkei-225 index ended down 274.66 points at 16,012.83. Volume was again lighter than usual, with an estimated 1.69 billion shares traded, up from 1.33 billion on Tuesday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed sharply lower, down 1.47 per cent, as investors fretted over renewed global market uncertainty following a tumble on Wall Street.
China metals and raw material plays saw heavy profit-taking after posting strong gains in recent sessions due to price differential between their H-shares in Hong Kong and mainland listed A-shares.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 343.16 points at 23,020.60. Turnover was 104.21 billion Hong Kong dollars (13.35 billion US).
SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed down 1.2 per cent following Wall Street’s overnight tumble on renewed concerns about the US economy.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 76.0 points at 6,100.3. Volume traded was 2.4 billion shares, worth 6.4 billion Australian dollars (5.2 billion US).
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.25 per cent lower, recovering from earlier sharp losses on the back of a selloff on Wall Street overnight.
The Straits Times Index dropped 8.34 points to 3,334.66 on volume of 2.22 billion shares worth 2.28 billion Singapore dollars (1.5 billion US).
Sentiment also took a hit from concerns over the impact on Singapore banks from the troubled US subprime mortgage market after DBS announced its exposure to collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) had almost doubled to $2.4 billion.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.2 per cent lower, in line with regional markets which were once again stung by overnight losses on Wall Street.
The composite index shed 15.25 points to 1,263.70 on turnover of 976.8 million shares worth 1.8 billion ringgit (514 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 1.1 per cent lower following renewed sell-offs on Wall Street amid fading hopes of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
Citra Marga rose on speculation that the government will soon carry out a toll road tariff hike.
The composite index closed down 24.73 points at 2,134.88 on volume of 3.9 billion shares valued at 2.8 trillion rupiah (296.92 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.41 per cent lower after a late rally partially reversed an initial fall of more than 1.0 per cent.
The NZX-50 index finished 16.90 points off at 4,084.16 on turnover worth 130.46 million dollars (89.72 million US).
Air New Zealand down nine cents at 1.99 a day after reporting a 214-million-dollar profit.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices rose 0.50 per cent, recovering from the day’s lows on bargain hunting, after global markets fell on fresh concerns over the US economy.
The Sensex index rose 73.85 points to 14,993.04.
Bargain hunting and short covering in the derivatives segment pulled the markets up. Volatility will however impact trends in coming days, said Hiten Mehta, fund manager with Fortune Financial Services.
Tata Steel shares rose 56.1 rupees or 9.27 per cent to 661.5.
—AFP
