Asian stocks close mostly down
HONG KONG, Jan 2: Asian stocks closed mostly down on Wednesday as pessimism about the stuttering US economy weighed on investor sentiment but India bucked the trend to hit a record close.
Indian shares rose 0.81 per cent to an all-time closing high after luring nearly $17 billion from foreign investors in 2007.
But Hong Kong fell 0.91 per cent, Taiwan shed 2.15 per cent, South Korea slipped 2.3 per cent and Singapore was down 0.61 per cent.Many investors are still fretting about the likely impact of an expected US economic slowdown on Asia. A financial crisis has hit the US, the world’s biggest economy, which some analysts say could be heading for recession.
Singapore stoked the concerns for Asia on Wednesday when it said its economy contracted at the end of 2007.
Elsewhere Shanghai rose 0.21 per cent and Australian shares were up 0.20 per cent.
Wednesday was the first trading day of 2008 for many of the region’s markets, except Tokyo, which is shut for most of this week.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 0.91 per cent lower on concerns over the US economy’s prospects, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed down 252.13 points at 27,560.52. Turnover was 75.87 billion Hong Kong dollars (9.73 billion US).
Foreign institutional investors took their cue from Asian markets most of which fell today because of continuing worries over the global financial turmoil and the prospects of a US economic slowdown, said analyst Sean Tsang.
The Polaris Securities expert noted persistent worries about the US subprime loans crisis and possible new measures to cool the Chinese economy.
China Mobile fell 1.70 to 136.20, HSBC was down 0.80 at 130.90, HKEx fell 2.80 at 218.40 and Hutchison Whampoa lost 0.10 at 88.35.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.61 per cent lower after government data showed the economy shrank 3.2 per cent in the fourth quarter, dealers said.
The main Straits Times Index fell 21.08 points to 3,461.22 after reopening following the New Year holiday on Tuesday. Volume was 1.40 billion shares worth 1.26 billion Singapore dollars (875 million US).
Dealers said investor sentiment dipped after government figures showed that, on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, the economy shrank 3.2 per cent in the December quarter.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.7 per cent down on the first day of trading in the new year after Wall Street ended a painful 2007 with another steep loss, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 9.35 points at 1,435.68.
The downtrend today was expected as technical indicators showed that the market is still facing pockets of selling pressure, said Heddy Humaizi, head of retail research at Aseambankers.
Looks like the market will go through a short-term correction, he added.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed down 0.5 per cent, dealers said. The Jakarta composite index closed down 14.32 points at 2,731.51.
The market fell sharply in mid-afternoon as investors unloaded stocks on news (that inflation) in December was quite high, said Samuel Sudeswanto Yeung, an analyst at Sinarmas Securities.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices rose 0.81 per cent to a new record close, dealers said.
The 30-share Mumbai stock exchange Sensex index rose 164.59 points to 20,465.3, beating the previous record close of 20,375.87 set on December 12 last year.—AFP