HONG KONG, Sept 26: Asian markets suffered a sell-off on Wednesday after a US Federal Reserve head said the central bank’s huge stimulus plan unveiled this month might not boost the economy as much as hoped.
Eurozone debt fears were also fuelled after a European Central Bank official said it could not restructure Greece’s debt with the regional lender, while tensions between China and Japan continued to weigh on markets.
Tokyo tumbled 2.03 per cent, or 184.84 points, to 8,906.70, Sydney shed 0.26 per cent, or 11.3 points, to 4,361.6 and Seoul slipped 0.55 per cent, or 10.97 points, to 1,980.44.
Hong Kong fell 0.83 per cent, or 170.95 points, to 20,527.73 and Shanghai lost 1.24 per cent, or 25.12 points, to end at 2,004.17, a 44-month low.
The global excitement stoked over the past month following stimulus announcements in the US, Japan and Europe was given a jolt after the head of the Fed’s Philadelphia branch questioned the impact of the US bank’s move. Charles Plosser said he was doubtful the unlimited bond-buying programme unleashed by the Fed would charge up the US economy, and warned that the Fed could lose credibility because of it.
The IG Markets said in a report: “Many traders feel central bank stimulus is merely a sticking plaster for a broken leg and that much more needs to be done to send the global economy safely on the road to recovery.”
Gold was at $1,763.60 at 1050 GMT compared with $1,764.30 on Tuesday.
In other markets: Singapore closed 0.67 per cent, or 20.45 points, lower at 3,046.68. SingTel tumbled 3.90 per cent to Sg$3.20 after state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings said it will cut its stake in the local telecom giant to 51.9 per cent from 54.4 per cent. DBS Bank was off 0.83 per cent to Sg$14.26.
Taipei fell 0.83 per cent, or 64.50 points, to 7,669.63. TSMC rose 0.58 per cent to Tw$86.4 while Hon Hai Precision lost 3.53 per cent to Tw$90.2.
Manila closed 0.61 per cent lower, losing 32.54 points to 5,292.63. Alliance Global Group slipped 1.45 per cent to 13.60 pesos but Bloomberry Resorts rose 4.01 per cent to 10.90 pesos.
Wellington lost 0.42 per cent, or 15.99 points, to 3,809.32. Fletcher Building fell 3.0 per cent to NZ$6.85, Sky City slid 3.6 per cent to NZ$3.78 and Telecom was up 0.2 per cent at NZ$2.40.
Jakarta fell 1.11 per cent, or 46.72 points, to 4,180.16. Coal company Bumi Resources fell 2.9 per cent to 670 rupiah, its rival Indika slid 1.9 per cent to 1,590 rupiah and car maker Astra International lost 2.7 per cent to 7,200 rupiah.
Kuala Lumpur was flat, edging up 0.72 points to 1,619.30.
Bangkok eased 1.00 per cent, or 12.91 points, to 1,274.50.
Mumbai slid 0.33 per cent, or 62.24 points, to 18,632.17.
India’s biggest mobile phone firm Bharti Airtel fell 3.93 per cent to 265.2 rupees on profit-taking after a sharp run-up in prices recently.
Cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines rose 8.65 per cent to 15.7 rupees after promoter-billionaire Vijay Mallya said talks were on with foreign carriers to sell a stake in his ailing airline. —AFP