HONG KONG, Sept 5: Asian stock markets fell on Friday after poor retail and jobs figures in the US brought back fears over the health of the world’s largest economy, dealers said.

The Tokyo and Hong Kong markets were both down near three per cent as investment funds that had actively bought Asian shares cashed in, fearing a global slowdown would further hit regional economies. China saw the biggest drop, tumbling more than three per cent.

Wall Street was hammered overnight as more losses in private-sector employment weighed on the market and fears consumption, a main pillar for US growth, is stumbling.

Sydney was down more than two per cent, Singapore lost 1.62 per cent, Seoul was down 1.55 per cent and Taipei shed 1.64 per cent..

TOKYO: Japanese shares lost 2.75 per cent, dealers said.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 345.43 points to close at 12,212.23, the lowest close since mid-March.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares dropped 30.81 points or 2.56 per cent to 1,170.84.

The Nikkei briefly fell more than three per cent in early trading due to concerns that speculators may place big sell orders in Nikkei futures.

SYDNEY: Australian shares plunged 2.1 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 102.4 points at 4,877.1, while the broader All Ordinaries shed 101.4 points to 4,949.5.

Financial stocks were sharply lower amid the renewed financial uncertainty after the Dow skidded.

SINGAPORE: Shares closed at their lowest level in almost two years, down 1.97 per cent, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index closed down 51.84 points at 2,574.21 on volume of 1.10 billion shares worth 1.57 billion Singapore dollars (1.09 billion US).

Falling issues led decliners 390 to 136 with 837 unchanged.

The index closed at its lowest level since October 5, 2006.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices ended 1.3 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 14.84 points to close at 1,070.54.

Among the decliners were palm oil concerns IOI Corp., down 2.6 per cent at 4.92 ringgit, and Sime Darby, down 2.3 per cent at 6.40 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares tumbled 2.5 per cent to close at a twelve-month low, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell 42.44 points to 2,022.56.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia fell 7.9 per cent to 5,800 rupiah on fears that high interest rates will hurt 2008 earnings, and coal miner Bumi dropped 3.8 per cent to 4,450.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares closed 0.36 per cent lower, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 11.96 points to 3,336.18.

Heavyweight Fletcher Building fell five cents to $7.55 while Contact Energy rose one cent to 8.36.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was unchanged at $3.24, infrastructure investor Infratil eased three cents to $2.23 and Tourism Holdings was down four cents at 1.36.

MUMBAI: Indian shares tumbled 2.79 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 415.27 points to 14,483.83.

The markets ignored official data on inflation, which slowed for a second straight week but was still far above the central bank’s tolerance level, fuelling expectations of more monetary tightening.—AFP