November 06, 2007	Tuesday	Shawwal 24, 1428

HONG KONG, Nov 5: Asian stocks closed sharply lower on Monday with sentiment damaged by the subprime mortgage crisis in the US and a heavy sell-off in the Hong Kong and mainland China markets.

Investors reacted nervously to news that the head of Citigroup had stepped down as the biggest US bank said it expected losses of up to $11 billion related to problems in the subprime mortgage sector.

Regional trade took a further hammering due to a 5.0 per cent tumble in Hong Kong after further delays in allowing mainland Chinese to trade directly in the territory’s market, became apparent.

Shanghai shed 2.48 per cent, but PetroChina still became the world’s largest company by market value, worth about one trillion dollars, as its share price nearly tripled on its debut in mainland China.

Sydney slumped 1.7 per cent, Tokyo was off 1.5 per cent, Bangkok was 2.4 per cent lower, Jakarta dropped 2.1 per cent and Seoul fell 0.2 per cent.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices tumbled 1.50 per cent to a seven-week low as news of large subprime-related losses at US banking giant Citigroup spooked investors.

Dealers said a surprise weekend decision by Japan’s main opposition leader to resign added to the confusion over the country’s political situation, raising fresh concerns about the outlook for structural reforms.

The Nikkei-225 index dropped 248.56 points to 16,268.92. Turnover declined to 2.0 billion shares from 2.08 billion Friday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices tumbled 5.0 per cent, the index’s largest ever single-day fall, on fears of delays in a scheme to allow mainlanders to directly trade stocks here, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 1,526.02 points to 28,942.32, after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao set several conditions for its implementation, expected to lead to a further postponing of the much-hyped scheme.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed down 1.7 per cent , hit by continuing fears about the impact of a global credit crunch.

Dealers said fears that the central Reserve Bank of Australia could raise interest rates at a meeting on Tuesday also played on investors minds.

The ASX/S&P 200 index closed down 114.3 points at 6,582.3 on volume of 1.92 billion shares worth about 6.2 billion Australian dollars (5.7 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices fell 1.2 per cent as fresh jitters sparked by the US subprime credit crisis rattled markets in the Asia Pacific region.

The Straits Times Index dropped 45.14 points to 3,670.18 on volume of 2.34 billion shares worth 2.40 billion Singapore dollars (1.65 billion US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed down 0.9 per cent amid a regional selloff with the benchmark again dropping below the psychologically key 1,400 point support level.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 2.1 per cent lower as a slump in key regional markets prompted investors to lock in gains after last week’s strong rally.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices fell 0.31 per cent, as nervousness continued after a sharp fall on world markets late last week.

The NZX-50 index closed 12.92 points lower at 4,141.20 on turnover worth 86.3 million dollars (66.0 million US).

MUMBAI: Indian share prices fell 1.93 per cent as funds sold on concerns of more fallout from a credit squeeze in the US and high global oil prices.

The 30-share Mumbai Sensex index fell 385.45 points to 19,590.78.—AFP