HONG KONG, Sept 4: Asian stocks closed mostly down on Thursday as the slowing global economy stoked fears for corporate profits and eroded already fragile investor sentiment, with Taiwan and Singapore falling heavily.

The bourses in Taipei and Singapore fell by 2.6 per cent and nearly three percent respectively.

Concerns about a weakening Taiwan dollar are said to have hit the country’s stock market, while experts say Singapore’s trade-reliant economy is exposed the cooling world economy.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed down 1.04 per cent amid caution ahead of the release of US jobs data, with losses in commodity shares and shipping companies dragging down the index, dealers said.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 131.93 points to close at 12,557.66. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares dropped 18.90 points or 1.55 percent to close at 1,201.65.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 1.0 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 195.58 points at 20,389.48, its lowest closing figure since August 17 last year. Turnover was 56.46 billion Hong Kong dollars (7.24 billion US).

Chinese oil refiner Sinopec fell 1.5 percent.

Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 3.2 percent to 101.30 dollars, Sino Land ended 4.6 percent lower at 13.00 and Henderson Land dropped 1.3 percent to 46.65.

China Unicom rose 2.0 per cent to 12.56 dollars and China Netcom ended 2.2 percent higher at 18.66.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed down 1.6 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 80.5 points to 4,979.5, dipping below the 5,000-point mark, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 79.6 points at 5,050.9.

Market turnover was 1.31 billion shares worth 5.97 billion dollars (4.96 billion US).

The Commonwealth was down 45 cents at $42.90. Telecoms giant Telstra was down seven cents at $4.34.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed down 2.97 per cent, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index tumbled 80.48 points to 2,626.05. Volume totalled 1.22 billion shares worth 1.62 billion Singapore dollars (1.13 billion US). It was the lowest close since October 20, 2006.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed little changed, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was 0.32 of a point lower, closing at 1,085.06.

Resorts World fell 1.8 percent to 2.69. IOI Corp. was 1.8 percent higher at 5.05 ringgit. Tenaga was up 1.3 per cent at 8.05 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed down 1.9 per cent, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite Index closed 41 points in the red at 2,075.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.75 per cent lower, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 25.31 points to 3,348.14.

Telecom fell seven cents to $3.12. Fletcher Building added 20 cents to 7.60.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed one per cent lower, dealers said. Weak Asian markets and concerns over rising oil and inflation pressures kept investors from building fresh positions,” said a dealer with brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher.

—AFP