HONG KONG, Dec 13: Asian stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday after an international central bank plan to ease a global credit squeeze, which began in the United States subprime mortgage sector, failed to impress.
The US Federal Reserve has set up a scheme with the European Central Bank and the central banks of Canada, England and Switzerland to provide more funds to needy financial institutions.
Under this cooperation scheme, the Fed will create a temporary auction facility to make funds available to banks and set up lines of credit with the European and Swiss central banks for additional resources.
This move is the biggest concerted liquidity injection since the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks but investors feared it merely signalled the worst of the subprime lending crisis was yet to come.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices tumbled 2.48 per cent as investors remained nervous about a global credit squeeze despite a joint action plan from major central banks.
Dealers said investors turned cautious ahead of upcoming US banking results and a key central bank survey of Japanese business confidence.
The Nikkei-225 index fell 395.74 points to 15,536.52. Volume traded was 2.162 billion shares against 2.118 billion on Wednesday.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed sharply lower, down 2.72 per cent, as a US Federal Reserve-sponsored plan to inject more liquidity into financial markets failed to assure investors.
Investor worries were heightened following warnings by Bank of America, Wachovia and PNC Financial Services of additional writedowns.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 776.61 points at 27,744.45. Turnover was 127.10 billion Hong Kong dollars (16.30 billion US).
SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed 0.3 per cent lower in light trade as concerns over the global credit crunch and wild swings on Wall Street kept investors on the sidelines.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slipped 17.6 points to 6,597.6. Volume was 1.99 billion shares worth about 5.52 billion Australian dollars (4.9 billion US).
But investors questioned the effectiveness of the new plan, pointing out that major banks were still calculating the size of their exposures to subprime loans.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 1.97 per cent lower as a move by key central banks to inject more liquidity into global financial markets failed to ease investor worries.
Dealers said the massive rescue effort by five central banks to inject fresh money into the worldwide banking system aimed to help the global economy weather the impact of a potentially crippling credit squeeze.
But the Straits Times Index closed 69.94 points lower at 3,479.31 on volume of 1.60 billion shares worth 2.08 billion Singapore dollars (1.44 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares prices closed down 0.9 per cent after a mixed session on Wall Street.
The composite index closed down 13.16 points at 1,410.56.
Lai said that in the immediate term, the local market will remain volatile and the KLCI is likely to move within a 40-point margin.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 1.4 per cent lower as falls in key regional markets due to concerns over the credit crisis and the US economy fueled an extended selloff.
The composite index closed down 40.11 points at 2,755.73 with volume at 3.90 billion shares valued at 5.11 trillion rupiah (548.5 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed flat as a fall by market leader Telecom was countered by rises among other blue chips.
The NZX-50 index rose 1.84 points to 4,001.39 on turnover worth 97.22 million dollars (75.72 million US.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed 1.33 per cent lower as Asian markets slipped on persistent worries over the global economic outlook.
The 30-share Sensex fell 271.48 points to 20,104.39.—AFP
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