HONG KONG, Sept 9: Asian stocks fell sharply on Tuesday as euphoria sparked by the US government’s bailout of two key American mortgage finance giants began to dissipate.

Taiwan’s bourse led the key decliners, tumbling 3.5 per cent. It had surged more than 5.5 per cent Monday after Washington’s weekend announcement of a federal takeover of ailing mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Japan, Asia’s biggest stock market, and Australia both fell around 1.7 per cent. Hong Kong and South Korea tumbled 1.5 per cent, while Singapore also ended in the red. Shanghai bucked the trend to end slightly higher.

But by Tuesday worries about the state of the US and global economies amid slumping house prices and a worldwide credit squeeze took centre stage again.

TOKYO: Japanese shares fell 1.77 per cent as the yen marched higher and investors took profits a day after global markets soared on a US takeover of two ailing mortgage lenders, dealers said.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 223.81 points to close at 12,400.65. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares closed down 24.82 points or 2.04 per cent to 1,191.59.

Japan’s main stock index had surged Monday after Washington announced over the weekend that it was bailing out US mortgage titans Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 1.5 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 303.16 points at 20,491.11. Turnover was low at 47.90 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.14 billion US).

The index had risen 4.3 per cent on Monday, but most blue-chips fell Tuesday, led by aluminium producer Chalco, clothing retailer Esprit and the handset-maker Foxconn International Holdings, which each dropped at least five per cent.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 1.7 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark SP/ASX 200 index dropped 87.4 points to close at 4,980.1, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 84.4 points to 5,041.9. Some 1.26 billion shares worth 5.85 billion dollars (4.75 billion US) changed hands.

The resource stocks are being belted again mercilessly, with the movements down in commodity prices, Austock Securities senior client advisor Michael Heffernan said.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 0.88 per cent lower, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) fell 23.82 points to 2,673.21 on volume of 746.44 million shares worth 1.02 billion Singapore dollars (713 million US).

There is still a lot of investor apathy, a dealer at a local brokerage told Dow Jones Newswires.

DBS fell 10 cents to 18.10. CapitaLand tumbled 14 cents to 4.26. Neptune Orient Lines declined 11 cents to 2.12.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices ended down 0.7 per cent, dealers said. Investors unwound positions ahead of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s scheduled court appearance on sodomy charges, they said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index 7.38 points to close at 1,068.55.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares slumped to end down 3.9 per cent, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell 79.24 points to 1,958.75.

Foreign funds have gradually left Indonesia to cover risk aversion toward commodity-related stocks amid a weak global economy, Katarina Setiawan from Kim Eng Securities told Dow Jones Newswires.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed little changed, dealers said. The benchmark NZX 50 index gained 1.98 points or 0.06 per cent to 3,376.38.

Contact Energy rose 3.3 per cent to a three-month high of 9.00 dollars. Telecom ended eight cents down 3.07. Fletcher Building gained six cents to 7.75.

MUMBAI: Indian shares ended 0.30 per cent down, dealers said. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 44.21 points to 14,900.76.

The markets are likely to remain choppy as global trends remain uncertain, said Atul Hatwar, a dealer at Crosseas Securities.—AFP