HONG KONG, Nov 2: Asian stocks suffered heavy losses on Friday, mirroring sharp falls on other global markets amid fears that the fallout from the US subprime loan crisis is far from over.
Markets around the region fell by as much as three per cent after drops in New York and Europe, as renewed worries about the fallout from US mortgage and credit woes erased earlier euphoria over a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
Hong Kong slumped 3.3 per cent, Tokyo fell 2.09 per cent, Shanghai shed 2.31 per cent, Sydney dropped 1.9 per cent, Singapore was down 2.3 per cent and Seoul lost 2.1 per cent.
US falls came after oil giant ExxonMobil missed Wall Street profit forecasts and analysts at CIBC World Markets downgraded Citigroup and Bank of America, the two biggest US banks, on worries about a credit squeeze.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices slumped more than two per cent, hit by heavy losses on Wall Street as concerns about the fallout from recent credit market turmoil returned.
The Nikkei-225 index dropped 352.92 points or 2.09 per cent to 16,517.48, reflecting sharp falls across Asia. Turnover rose to 2.08 billion shares from 2.07 billion Thursday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed sharply lower, down 3.3 per cent with property stocks dragging on the market as investors opted to lock in recent gains.
The Hang Seng Index ended the day 1,024.54 points down at 30,468.34.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices dropped 1.9 per cent following a sell-off on Wall Street triggered by concerns about a slowing US economy.
The S&P/ASX 200 lost 132.1 points to 6,696.6. Turnover was 1.86 billion shares worth 6.9 billion dollars (6.34 billion US dollars).
Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors, said the correction could prove shallow compared to falls in July and August in the wake of the US subprime mortgage crisis but that more volatility could be expected.
SINGAPORE: Share prices fell 2.3 per cent in line with regional markets as investors locked in profits following Wall Street’s slump overnight.
Dealers said concerns over the health of the US economy and soaring oil prices weighed down on sentiment.
The Straits Times Index dropped 88.24 points to 3,715.32 as 2.40 billion shares changed hands valued at 2.90 billion Singapore dollars (2.0 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed down 0.8 per cent after a steep sell-off in New York on concerns for the US economy and amid historically high oil prices.
The composite index closed the session down 11.68 points at 1,397.48.
Volume was 1.4 billion shares valued at 1.8 billion ringgit (538 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Jakarta share prices closed 0.2 per cent higher at a record finish after major stocks bounced back, helping the index to reverse course after heavy losses in early trade.
The composite index was up 5.96 points at 2,710.62. Volume was 4.25 billion shares worth 7.53 trillion rupiah (824.30 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices plunged 1.29 per cent, although the fallout from a significant decline on Wall Street was not as severe as elsewhere in the region.
The NZX-50 index closed 53.76 points lower at 4,154.12 on turnover worth 113.09 million dollars (85.61 million US).
MUMBAI: Indian share prices rose 1.28 per cent as investors bought blue-chips, recovering from a sharp sell-off on credit squeeze concerns in the US economy and global oil prices.
The 30-share Mumbai Sensex index rose 251.88 points to 19,976.23.—AFP
