Asian stocks close lower after Wall Street slide
HONG KONG, Nov 27: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday after an overnight tumble on Wall Street as fears about the US economy in the wake of a credit crisis cast a pall over investor sentiment.
Hong Kong fell 1.51 per cent, Shanghai shed 1.97 per cent, Taipei ended down 1.79 per cent, Sydney slipped 0.6 per cent and Singapore closed 1.34 per cent lower.Only a few markets ended higher, including Tokyo, which edged up 0.58 per cent, and Seoul, up 0.2 per cent.
The poor performance across most of Asia followed a sharp slide on Wall Street on Monday over fears that the US economy faces a slowdown after a default crisis in its subprime mortgage sector of loans to riskier borrowers.
News that banking giant Citigroup, reeling from the US housing slump and subprime crisis, would receive a 7.5-billion-dollar injection from the Abu Dhabi government helped sentiment Asia, but not enough to avoid losses.
TOKYO: Japanese stocks reversed an early slide to end higher despite losses on Wall Street and other Asian markets as investors set aside worries over the US subprime loan crisis, dealers said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index ended up 87.64 points or 0.58 per cent at 15,222.85.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 11.75 points or 0.80 per cent to 1,478.78.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,084 to 537, with 98 issues unchanged.
Turnover rose to 2.34 billion shares from 2.15 billion on Monday.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 1.51 per cent as banks were hit by fresh subprime concerns and news of a big share sale by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings in Bank of China, dealers said.
HSBC fell 1.95 per cent to 130.90 Hong Kong dollars after announcing that it would inject up to 35 billion US dollars into two of its structured investment vehicles (SIVs) to prevent a fire sale.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed down 0.6 per cent after a sell-off in the US amid renewed fears about credit markets, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 38.7 points at 6,432.7, recovering some ground after early sharp falls.
The broader All Ordinaries index closed down 0.6 per cent or 39.6 points at 6,493.6.
News of a multi-billion-dollar cash injection for troubled banking giant Citigroup shored up sentiment, dealers said.
SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 1.34 per cent lower after US stocks tumbled, dealers said.
The Straits Times Index fell 45.94 points to 3,372.64. Volume was 1.75 billion shares valued at 2.11 billion Singapore dollars (1.47 billion US).
Declining issues outnumbered risers 573 to 216, with 921 stocks unchanged.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.1 per cent higher due to late buying in selected blue-chips, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) gained 0.62 points to 1,364.99 with volume at 697.96 million shares valued at 1.08 billion ringgit (320 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 0.8 per cent lower after overnight losses on Wall Street due to fresh fears for the US economy, dealers said.
Late buying in some resources and property stocks pared the overall loss, they added.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 20.09 points at 2,627.95, coming off an intra-day low of 2,604.83. Volume was 2.78 billion shares worth 4.99 trillion rupiah (530.56 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices rose 0.66 per cent in volatile trade, gaining ground after news of a 7.5-billion-US-dollar cash injection for troubled US financial giant Citigroup, dealers said.
The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 26.95 points to close at 4,104.06 on turnover worth 155.3 million dollars (117.9 million US).
Fletcher Building closed up 40 cents at 12.25 dollars. Telecom rose four cents to 4.30 dollars.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed down 0.62 per cent, snapping two days of gains amid fears that the US housing slump and credit crunch could derail American economic growth, dealers said.
The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 119.81 points to 19,127.73. The metal, banking and power sectors posted losses, but mid- and small-cap indices rose on select buying.—AFP