HONG KONG, Oct 15: Asian stock markets slid on Wednesday as a global rally eased amid continued fears of recession in the world’s biggest economies.

Traders took their lead from a fall on Wall Street, which came despite a pledge by the US government to spend $250 billion shoring up banks to get money markets moving again.

Hong Kong led the falls, shedding five per cent, after two days of regional gains caused by the announcement of a global effort to put a stop to the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

All the good news has now come out, said Masatoshi Sato, a broker at Mizuho Investors Securities. Attention has now shifted to the real economy. However, Tokyo managed to edge up more than one per cent a day after its record 14 per cent surge.

The fall in Hong Kong came despite the government saying it would guarantee all bank deposits in the city for the next two years.

But despite the general concern for the world economy there was enough confidence in Tokyo that the central bank drained the money markets of 2.8 trillion yen ($27.6 billion) after 19 straight days of pumping in money.

Stocks took their cue from Wall Street, where the Dow Jones retreated 0.82 per cent on Tuesday, shedding early gains.

On Monday, the index registered its biggest points rise in history and its biggest rally in per centage terms since 1933.

Meanwhile Janet Yellen, the head of the San Francisco branch of the Federal Reserve, said the US economy appeared to already be in a recession, usually defined as at least two quarters of economic contraction.

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei index rebounded for a second day, ending 1.06 per cent up, dealers said.

The benchmark rose 99.90 points to 9,547.47.

The Nikkei spent most of the day in negative territory as investors took profits from the previous day’s strong gains.

High-tech shares were sold after US computer chip giant Intel issued a cautious business outlook. Canon lost 4.7 per cent to 3,430 yen and Sony fell 4.3 per cent to 2,665 yen.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 5.0 per cent lower, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 834.58 points at 15,998.30, after rebounding 14 per cent in the past two sessions. Turnover was light at 52.21 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.69 billion US).

SYDNEY: The Australian share market closed down 0.8 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark SP/ASX200 closed down 35.2 points at 4,300, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 39 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 4,272.5.

Turnover was a light 1.24 billion shares worth $4.26 billion (2.99 billion US), with 463 stocks closing up, 571 down and 268 unchanged.

After two days of significant gains following a horror stretch last week, the Australian market was hit by a weaker Wall Street and falls in resources stocks, dealers said.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 3.24 per cent lower, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index ended 68.92 points lower at 2,059.39.

Conglomerate Sembcorp Industries dropped 10 cents to 2.60 Singapore dollars, while its counterpart Keppel Corp fell 37 cents to 5.73.

Neptune Orient Lines was 11 cents lower at 1.65 and agribusiness giant Wilmar International was off 28 cents at 2.30.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.7 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 16.18 points to close at 949.88.

Genting lost 4.42 per cent at 4.76 ringgit while top bank Maybank closed flat at 5.75. Telekom lost 0.59 per cent at 3.36 ringgit while Tenaga fell 2.88 per cent at 6.75.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 2.3 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell 35.56 points to 1,520.41 on moderate volume, down from an intraday high of 1,598.19.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares fell 1.50 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 44.33 points to close at 2,904.64.

Market leader Telecom led the declines after announcing plans to invest $574 million for a new mobile network. Telecom shares closed down 14 cents at $2.44 .

Auckland Airport rose one cent to $1.83 and Air New Zealand dropped two cents to 87 cents. Contact Energy fell 12 cents to $7.35 .

MUMBAI: Indian shares fell 5.87 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 674.28 points to 10,809.12, snapping a two-day bounceback.—AFP