HONG KONG, Jan 15: Asian shares closed mostly down on Tuesday with Japan falling to a 26-month low over worries about a US economic slowdown, but Taiwan continued a post-election surge by rising more than three per cent.
The Japanese stock market fell nearly one per cent to finish below 14,000 points for the first time since November 2005. Other major regional markets also fell, including Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea and Singapore.
Analysts said investors were braced for poor results from leading US financial firms due to report earnings this week in the wake of the debilitating American mortgage default crisis.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed down 0.98 per cent, slipping below the symbolic 14,000-point level for the first time since November 2005 on concern over the strong yen, dealers said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 138.16 points to close at 13,972.63, the lowest close since November 2, 2005. The market was reopening after a three-day weekend.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 27.38 points or 1.99 per cent to finish at 1,350.20. Declining shares far outnumbered gainers 1,561 to 134, with 29 issues unchanged. Volume traded increased to 2.476 billion shares from 2.471 billion on Friday.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 2.38 per cent amid caution ahead of key US economic data and corporate results, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed down 630.35 points at 25,837.78. Turnover was 121.07 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Matthew Kwok, research head at Tanrich Securities, noted that selling pressure intensified in the afternoon due to continued worries over the US economy and the subprime mortgage crisis.
SYDNEY: Australian stocks closed down 0.3 per cent to record its seventh straight loss, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended the day down 20.0 points at 5,960.0 while the broader All Ordinaries shed 21.1 points to finish at 6,019.8.
Volume traded was 1.67 billion shares worth 5.96 billion dollars (5.35 billion US).
SHANGHAI: Chinese share prices close mixed, with the Shanghai benchmark index 0.98 per cent lower, dealers said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index, which covers A and B shares, ended 54.11 points lower at 5,443.79.
Turnover was 151.53 billion yuan ($20.76bn) from 142.25 billion yuan in the previous session.
“The Shanghai market was dragged down by the blue-chips in the financial, chemical and property development sectors,” said Guo Feng, a Shanghai based analyst with Northeast Securities.
“The Shanghai Composite Index will consolidate at around 5,400 to 5,500 points as institutional investors are taking a fence-sitting attitude,” said Mo Fan, an analyst with Soochow Fund.
The Shanghai A-share index fell 0.99 per cent to 5,713.52. The Shenzhen A-share index rose 0.41 per cent at 1,659.61.
TAIPEI: Taiwan share prices closed 3.13 per cent higher after an overnight rebound on Wall Street, extending a post-election rally, dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 255.43 points at 8,428.84. Turnover was 210.23 billion Taiwan dollars.
SEOUL: South Korean shares closed 1.1 per cent lower, tracking a regional slump on US economic worries, dealers said.
The KOSPI index ended down 18.93 points at 1,746.95. Volume was 289 million shares worth 5.6 trillion won.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 1.98 per cent lower on concerns over the health of the US economy, dealers said.
The Straits Times Index fell 63.56 points to 3,154.58 on volume of 1.97 billion shares worth 2.32 billion Singapore dollars.
“The toll on banks’ and major brokerages’ balance sheets from the US subprime crisis appears to be getting worse after about a year in the news and the Fed has certainly been slow to react in its interest rate cuts,” said Najeeb Jarhom at Fraser Securities Najeeb.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed little changed after volatile trade, dealers said.The Kuala Lumpur Composite index declined 1.33 points to 1,505.71.
“The market is in a correction mode and will likely remain so going forward,” said Phua Kwee Hock, acting head of research at SJ Securities.
Sime Darby gained 10 sen to 13.00 ringgit. Tenaga added five sen to 9.95 ringgit.
BANGKOK: Thai share prices closed 1.46 per cent lower amid ongoing fears over a possible slowdown in the US economy, dealers said.
They said investors were also keeping an eye on efforts to form a new government in Thailand, with the Supreme Court set to rule Friday on a legal challenge to last month’s general elections.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index fell 11.55 points to 779.60 and the blue-chip SET-50 lost 10.10 points to 562.95.
JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed down 2.9 per cent on worries about the US economy, dealers said.
The Jakarta composite index closed down 80.34 points at 2,730.03.
“I would say the fall in key regional markets was the main reason behind our market’s sharp falls today,” said Felix Sindhunata, head of research at Mega Capital.
Telkom fell 550 rupiah to 9,300 and rival Indosat dropped 500 to 14,200 rupiah.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.36 per cent lower in their eighth straight fall despite gains on Wall Street, dealers said.
The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 13.70 points to 3,810.50.
Telecom was down two cents at 4.18 dollars, Fletcher Building fell one cent to 10.56 and Contact Energy fell a cent to 8.04.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices fell 2.3 per cent led by weak Asian markets as buying interest shifted to Reliance Power’s IPO, India’s largest public offering, dealers said.
The 30-share Mumbai stock exchange Sensex fell 476.96 points to 20,251.09.
“A slowdown in overseas fund flows has weakened the buying momentum.
Interest in the primary markets could also have impacted trends,” said R. Balakrishnan, executive director of Centrum Broking.—AFP
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