HONG KONG, Nov 13: Asian shares tumbled on Thursday as the US government abandoned moves to buy up billions of dollars in toxic mortgage debt at the centre of the global credit crisis and amid global recession fears.
Regional markets fell for a third straight day, taking their cue from Wall Street after US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced his change of tack Wednesday on how best to implement the $700 billion bailout plan.
He said the plan would be refocused on continued capital injections for ailing banks and possible steps to help the non-bank financial sector, such as car loans and credit cards.
Tokyo plunged 5.1 per cent, Hong Kong lost 5.1 per cent and Sydney tumbled almost six per cent as traders’ fears for the global economy grew more acute.
Wall Street was 4.73 per cent down overnight.
Japanese exporters were hit by a stronger yen, which is bad for their earnings, with the dollar sharply lower at 95.79 yen.
A profit warning from the biggest US consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy, hit confidence and Intel Corp., the world’s biggest computer chip maker, cut fourth-quarter revenue projections, saying the economic slowdown would hurt business across the board.
As turnover remained low, markets around the region were hit hard, with Seoul losing 3.15 per cent, Taipei shedding 3.85 per cent and Singapore 1.60 per cent.
TOKYO: Tokyo stocks fell 5.25 per cent.
The benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 456.87 points to end at 8,238.64. The Topix index of all first section issues fell 37.70 points, or 4.31 per cent, to 837.53.
Technology stocks were hit by the cautious outlook from Intel.
Sony tumbled 8.7 per cent to 2,000 yen, Sharp sank 8.4 per cent to 667, Elpida Memory dropped 13 per cent to 477 and Nikon lost 11 per cent to 1,000.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial fell 8.0 per cent to 368,000 and Mizuho Financial declined 6.6 per cent to 254,500.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices lost 5.15 per cent.
The Hang Seng Index fell 717.74 points to 13,221.35 and dealers said investor sentiment was worsening. Every blue chip in the index but one ended lower.
Hong Kong Exchanges, which operates the Hong Kong market, dropped 7.9 per cent to 66.60 Hong Kong dollars. The company said Wednesday that third-quarter profit was down 43 per cent in the face of slowing turnover.
SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 5.9 per cent .
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 lost 230 points to 3,697.3, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 211.2 points to 3,672.4. It was the lowest close for the two indices since October 2004.
A total of 1.39 billion shares valued at $4.4 billion (US$2.8 billion) was traded.
BHP Billiton dropped 11.66 per cent to $25.00 , while its takeover target Rio Tinto fell 8.24 per cent to 69.00.
SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 1.60 per cent lower.
The blue-chip Straits Times Index fell 28.54 points to finish at 1,755.47 on volume of 947.67 million shares valued at 915.47 million Singapore dollars (605.41 million US).
Singapore’s economy fell into a technical recession in the third quarter, and the government expects growth of 3.0 per cent for the full year.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.1 per cent lower. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 9.75 points to close at 880.59.
IOI Corp was down 4.4 per cent at 3.06, Maybank lost 5.5 per cent at 5.15 and IJM Corp shed six per cent at 2.81 ringgit.
On the upside, Resorts gained 2.8 per cent at 2.62 ringgit.
JAKARTA: Indonesian shares dropped five per cent.
The Jakarta Composite Index fell 66.91 points to 1,259.71.
The main index has fallen 54 per cent since the start of the year, while its market capitalisation has dropped 47 per cent to 1,015 trillion rupiah (86 billion dollars).
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 1.54 per cent lower. The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 42.56 points to close at 2,729.62.
Market leader Telecom rose two cents to $2.43, Contact Energy fell five cents to 7.11, and Fletcher Building was down 16 cents at 5.40.
Air New Zealand rose two cents to 90 cents, Goodman Property Trust added a cent to 1.01 and Kiwi Income Property Trust was up two cents at 1.01.
—AFP
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