HONG KONG, Jan 15: Shares in Asia took a beating on Thursday as another raft of miserable news from the world’s biggest economies highlighted the extent of the global financial meltdown.

The optimism at the start of the new year over future stimulus plans continued to fade as reality returned to the market.

Tokyo’s Nikkei plummeted almost five per cent after data showed Japanese machinery orders fell 16.2 per cent in November from the previous month -- their fastest pace since records began in 1987.

Hong Kong lost 3.4 per cent, while Sydney ended 4.3 per cent lower as unemployment hit 4.5 per cent in December, the highest in almost two years.

TOKYO: Down 4.92 per cent. The Nikkei lost 415.14 points to 8,023.31, the weakest close since December 5. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares dropped 23.40 points, or 2.86 per cent, to 795.99.

The recent rise of the yen, which was at 88.85 to the dollar, deterred investors from buying exporter shares, dealers said.

Nissan Motor Co. shares slipped 3.4 per cent to 314 yen after a local newspaper reported Japan’s third-largest automaker expects to post an annual operating loss because of weak sales and a stronger yen.

HONG KONG: Down 3.4 per cent. The Hang Seng Index closed 461.65 points lower at 13,242.96. Turnover was 49.38 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.33 billion US).

UOB KayHian Securities director Steven Leung said although the local market is heavily oversold and has fallen 15 per cent in the last eight sessions, a rebound in the near term would be unlikely.

SYDNEY: Down 4.3 per cent. The S&P/ASX200 dropped 157.5 points to 3,529.5, while the broader All Ordinaries shed 147.5 points to 3,476.8.

A total of 1.07 billion shares worth 3.02 billion dollars (1.99 billion US).

Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum was 4.49 per cent down at 34.05 and Santos shed 2.06 per cent to 13.80.

SINGAPORE: Down 3.44 per cent. The main Straits Times Index fell 60.66 points to 1,704.06. Volume totalled 1.07 billion shares worth 1.04 billion Singapore dollars (702 million US).

Singapore Telecommunications fell nine cents to 2.43, Singapore Airlines dropped 40 cents to 11.02 and Keppel Corp was off 20 cents to 4.25.

KUALA LUMPUR: Down 1.8 per cent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 16.01 points to close at 897.45 on a turnover of603.30 million shares worth 711.63 million ringgit (198.12 million dollars).

TMI fell 4.4 per cent to 3.46 ringgit.

Tenaga rose 4.7 per cent to 6.10 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Down 3.1 per cent. The Jakarta Composite Index closed 43.41 points down at 1,343.49 in thin trade.

Telkom fell 6.5 per cent to 6,450 rupiah, while coal miner Bumi Resources tumbled 9.6 per cent to 425 rupiah.

MUMBAI: Down 3.45 per cent. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 323.75 points to 9,046.74.

WELLINGTON: Down 1.58 per cent. The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 43.95 points to close at 2,742.84 on turnover worth 85.7 million dollars (47.6 million US).

Leading stock Telecom fell 13 cents to $2.35 , Fletcher Building dropped four cents to 5.85 and Contact Energy was down 15 cents at 7.30.

Financial services firm Tower was unchanged at $1.60 , as was Trust Power at 7.20.Port of Tauranga was down six cents at $6.32 , Freightways fell seven cents to 2.86 and Mainfreight dropped eight cents to 4.72. —Reuters