HONG KONG, Aug 19: Asian shares closed mostly down on Tuesday after a slide in US stocks, with Japan tumbling over two per cent as its central bank held interest rates steady and sounded a warning about economic growth.
The Tokyo bourse slipped 2.28 per cent to a one-month low as the Bank of Japan painted a gloomy picture of Asia’s largest economy, saying growth would remain sluggish as it held interest rates steady at 0.5 per cent.
The Japanese economy shrank in the second quarter, and there are fears Asian growth generally is set to slow sharply as a US-led world downturn bites.
The Australian stock market also suffered a sharp slide on Tuesday, tumbling almost 2.4 per cent. The country’s central bank warned that an early cut in interest rates may be necessary to avoid a sharp economic slowdown.
Hong Kong fell more than two per cent and South Korea and Singapore were down more than 1.5 per cent. Taiwan also finished in the red, but mainland China bucked the trend to close one per cent higher.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices fell 2.28 per cent, closing at a one-month low after losses on Wall Street triggered by renewed worries about US financial turmoil, dealers said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index dropped 300.40 points to end at 12,865.05. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares lost 28.21 points or 2.23 per cent to 1,235.54.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares closed down 2.1 per cent, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed down 446.3 points at 20,484.37, its lowest closing level since August 17, 2007, on volume of 48.47 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.21 billion US).
SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 2.38 per cent, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 118.6 points to 4,866.4, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 113.1 points to 4,930.4.
A total of 1.12 billion shares worth 4.64 billion dollars (4.01 billion US) changed hands.
Among major banks, National Australia Bank fell 3.02 per cent to 24.10.
Australia’s second biggest airline Virgin Blue fell 27.9 per cent to 84 cents after it posted a 55 per cent drop in annual net profit.
POSCO was down 2.3 per cent at 463,500 won. Kia Motors lost 5.1 per cent
SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 1.75 per cent lower, dealers said.
The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) closed 48.59 points lower at 2,728.39. Volume was 1.10 billion Singapore dollars (776 million US).
Keppel Corp. fell eight cents to 10.20 and SembCorp Marine was down nine cents to 3.72. Neptune Orient Lines tumbled 12 cents to 2.44. DBS Group retreated 48 cents to 17.92.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.4 per cent lower, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index dropped 14.94 points to end at 1,069.42.
Gamuda dropped five per cent to 2.65 ringgit. IOI Corp shed 0.8 per cent to reach 4.74 ringgit.
JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 2.1 per cent lower, dealers said.
The Jakarta Composite Index fell 42.65 points to 2042.49.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.5 per cent lower, dealers said.
The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 15.03 points to 3,319.10.
It was a reasonable sort of performance, no particular standouts,” said Philip Hunter, director of First NZ Capital.
Fletcher Building was down 30 cents at 6.80. Telecom was down three cents at a fresh 15-year low of 3.22 dollars. Contact Energy rose four cents to 8.63.
MUMBAI: Indian shares closed 0.7 per cent lower, dealers said. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 101.93 points to 14,543.73.
Weakness is likely to persist due to US-linked financial concerns.—AFP