Asian shares tumble, hit by US gloom
HONG KONG, Feb 11: Asian shares closed down on Monday as worries over the ailing US economy triggered yet more stock market losses across the region.
Japan, Asia’s biggest market, was shut for a holiday along with China and Taiwan, but other major bourses tumbled as investors took fright at a global credit crunch spreading from the US.
Hong Kong and South Korea both slumped more than three per cent, while Australia and Singapore fell over two per cent.
The Indian stock market fell nearly 4.8 per cent, with shares in the near three-billion-dollar listing by Reliance Power -- India’s biggest initial public offering --- tumbling some 17.2 per cent on their trading debut Monday.
The Dow Jones index in the US fell nearly 4.5 per cent last week, despite deep cuts in US borrowing costs and a 150-billion-dollar stimulus package rushed through by American lawmakers.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 3.6 per cent, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed down 853.35 points at 22,616.11. Turnover was 76.43 billion Hong Kong dollars (9.80 billion US).
Investors remained cautious as they worried that a recession in the US will hurt global economic growth and affect China as well, said Castor Pang, an investment strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial.
China Mobile was down 4.10 at 112.70. China Life was down 1.20 at 28.20.
Oil producer CNOOC was down 0.76 at 11.02.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed down 2.1 per cent, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 120.4 points at 5,537.6, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 120.8 points to 5,603.1.
More than 1.2 billion shares worth 4.7 billion dollars (4.23 billion US) changed hands.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said in a quarterly report that there was a considerable risk of inflation remaining uncomfortably high for some time.
SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 2.17 per cent lower, dealers said.
The blue chip Straits Times Index closed down 63.68 points at 2,868.29 on volume of 1.08 billion shares worth 1.64 billion Singapore dollars (1.16 billion US).
This may be another difficult week for equities as recession anxiety may continue to hound markets, said CIMB-GK research head Song Seng Wun in a note to clients.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices fell 0.6 per cent, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 8.56 points at 1,407.38.
Power utility Tenaga held steady at 9.25 ringgit. Telekom Malaysia was also unchanged at 11.40 ringgit. Maybank dropped 10 sen to 12.00 ringgit.
JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed down 1.9 per cent, dealers said. The Jakarta Composite Index closed down 49.71 points at 2,589.38.
Mandiri Sekuritas analyst Rafdi Prima said losses widened in the afternoon session, pressured by the slump in key regional markets and with no fresh leads at home to support the local market.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices fell 1.10 per cent Monday, dealers said.
The benchmark NZX-50 index dropped 39.47 points to 3,572.93.
Essentially, sentiment is being affected by Australia, where the central bank has suggested further interest rate increases are likely, said Barry Lindsay of First NZ Capital.
Fletcher Building finished 33 cents down at 9.19 dollars. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare closed at 2.78. Telecom closed flat at 3.95.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed down 4.78 per cent, dealers said. The debut stock listing by Reliance Power fell more than 17 per cent, they added.
The 30-share benchmark Sensex index fell 833.98 points to 16,630.91.
Overseas investors have sold stock worth 2.9 billion dollars since the start of the year after buying a record $17.23 billion last year.—AFP