HONG KONG, Aug 18: Asian shares closed mostly down on Monday on deepening concern about slowing economic growth, with the Chinese stock market plunging more than five per cent.

The key index in Shanghai slumped 5.4 per cent, weighed down by fears of slowing corporate profits and a looming increase in share supply as “lock-up” periods expire.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices ended up 1.12 per cent, helped by a rebound in financial issues and a weaker yen, which is good for exporters, dealers said.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 146.04 points to end at 13,165.45. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 16.44 points or 1.32 per cent to 1,263.75.

“Various fears are receding,” Yoshinori Nagano, senior strategist at Daiwa Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Worries over high material prices are receding and a softer yen should prop up exporters, he said.

TDK rose 2.1 percent to 6,800 yen and Sony gained 2.6 per cent to 4,350 yen.

Property-related issues rebounded. Mitsui Fudosan climbed 2.2 per cent to 2,325 yen.

Banks were also among the rising shares. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial climbed 2.5 per cent to 701,000 yen and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rallied 3.3 per cent to 845 yen.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares closed down 1.09 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed down 229.91 points at 20,930.67 on volume of 45.22 billion Hong Kong dollars. It was the index’s first finish below 21,000 points since August 2007.

“Sentiment is not very good,” said Daniel Chan, a senior investment strategist at DBS Bank.

Hong Kong’s gross domestic product fell by 1.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, in the second quarter from the previous three months, the first quarter-on-quarter decline since the SARS crisis of 2003.

Foxconn International plummeted 24.1 per cent to $5.84 after the company said late Friday that its first-half net profit probably fell significantly from a year ago.

Fashion retailer Esprit Holdings lost 2.6 per cent to 76.50. Developer Sino Land slid 4.9 per cent to 13.20 and Cheung Kong (Holdings) lost 1.5 per cent to 106.60.

Jiangxi Copper fell 3.3 per cent to 10.50. Ping An Insurance slipped 1.8 per cent to 48.00 after reporting a 2.1 per cent drop in first-half net profit.

China Mobile eased 0.7 per cent to 92.80.

SHANGHAI: Chinese share prices slumped 5.34 per cent, dealer said.

The slump came amid worries about an economic slowdown and surging stock supply, with selling restrictions on billions of shares due to be lifted.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, ended down 130.74 points at 2,319.87 on turnover of 35.9 billion yuan.

“Investors feared an oversupply of shares would dilute the value of existing holdings,” said Wu Youhui, an analyst from GF Securities.

He said the fact that 11.9 billion previously non-

tradeable shares of Baoshan Iron and Steel would become tradeable Tuesday was a major factor.

The fall also reflected the lingering impact of July’s factory gate inflation data, announced last week, which at 10.0 per cent were the highest in 12 years, according to Wu.

Baoshan Iron and Steel dropped 4.6 per cent to 6.69 yuan. Citic Securities lost 8.7 per cent to 16.61 yuan, while Air China hit the 10 per cent downside limit to end at 6.18 yuan.

China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock bucked the trend to end up 58.3 per cent at 3.45 yuan on its first day of trading. The company’s shares rose on a strong earnings outlook supported by a rapidly expanding railway industry.

TAIPEI: Taiwan share prices closed 2.72 per cent lower, dealers said.

The weighted index fell 195.76 points at 7,000.74 on turnover of 82.84 billion Taiwan dollars.

Taishin Financial fell 0.75 to 10.05 dollars, Chinatrust Financial dropped 1.45 to 19.85 and Shin Kong Financial shed 1.25 to 17.15. The three were limit-down seven percent.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was down 0.83 percent at 60.10 and United Microelectronics Corp. fell 2.25 per cent to 13.05.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.73 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Straits Times Index declined 20.52 points to 2,776.98 on volume of 948 million shares worth $1.09 billion.Singapore said Monday its main exports had slumped again in July.

CapitaLand was down 23 cents at 4.71. DBS closed 20 cents lower at 18.40.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.0 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 10.69 points to end at 1,084.36.

“Rising political risk ahead of the by-election which (opposition leader) Anwar Ibrahim plans to contest is the key reason for these jitters,” a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.

KNM fell 11 per cent at 1.46. Sime Darby shed 3.8 per cent at 2.96 ringgit.

Commerce-Asset added 2.0 per cent at 7.80 ringgit.

BANGKOK: Thai share prices closed 1.45 percent lower, dealers said.

They said the market fell mainly on the back of losses in banking and property shares, while investors took a wait-and-see stance until the future of the embattled Thai government becomes clearer.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index lost 10.25 points to close at 697.23 points, while the blue-chip SET-50 index fell 7.84 to close at 493.66.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares closed down 0.5 percent, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 16.99 points to 3,334.14.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances shares tumbled 24 cents or 11.5 per cent to $1.85.

“Bad news gets treated harshly in these types of markets, the simple facts presented for the first half were not good,” said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.

Telecom rose a cent to 3.25, while Contact Energy eased three cents to $8.54.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed 0.53 per cent lower, dealers said.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 78.52 points to 14,645.66.

“Sentiment was hit after inflation came in significantly ahead of expectations, led by a rise in food article prices,” said Siddhartha Sanyal, an economist at Edelweiss Securities.

—AFP