HONG KONG, Jan 21: The ailing banking system continued to weigh heavily on Asia’s markets on Wednesday as the region’s bourses fell for a second day despite hopes new US President Barack Obama will move to boost the economy.

Hong Kong shed 2.9 per cent for a second day running, while Tokyo dropped two per cent, Sydney one per cent and Seoul 2.1 per cent.

The heaviest loser of the day was Mumbai, which fell 3.53 per cent.

However Taiwan bucked the trend, adding 0.13 per cent.

TOKYO: Down 2.0 per cent. The benchmark Nikkei-225 index dropped 164.15 points to 7,901.64, closing under the symbolic 8,000-level for the first time since early December.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares lost 17.88 points, or 2.22 per cent, to 787.15.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 3.8 per cent to 483 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declined 5.4 per cent to 3,340 yen.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance plunged 11 per cent to 2,175 yen and Sompo Japan slipped 7.8 per cent to 530 yen.

HONG KONG: Down 2.9 per cent. The Hang Seng Index closed 376.14 points lower at 12,583.63, off an intraday low of 12,439.13. Turnover was 47.67 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.11 billion US).

HSBC continued to fall sharply on funding concerns, ending down 4.4 per cent at 55.00 dollars.

The bank, which investors had earlier viewed as one of the most stable stocks in Hong Kong, has lost 25 per cent of its value since the start of the year.

SYDNEY: Down one per cent. The S&P/ASX200 shed 33.8 points to 3,442.8, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 30.2 points at 3,394.8.

Preliminary turnover was some 1.08 billion shares worth 3.45 billion dollars (2.26 billion US).

Mining and banking stocks led the fall, following weak overnight leads from London and Wall Street, said CMC Markets analyst David Taylor.

Commonwealth Bank was down 2.8 per cent to 25.61, National Australia Bank 4.2 per cent weaker at 17.61 and ANZ Banking Group was off 3.9 per cent at 13.17.

SINGAPORE: Down 1.09 per cent. The blue-chip Straits Times Index fell 18.85 points to 1,704.52 on volume of 830 million shares worth 848 million Singapore dollars (564 million US).

United Overseas Bank gained 24 cents to 11.84 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp remained unchanged at 5.09.

KUALA LUMPUR: Down 0.8 per cent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell 6.96 points to close at 873.41.

Turnover was 366.25 million shares valued at 485.46 million ringgit ($135 million). IOI Corp lost 3.2 per cent to 3.68, Bumiputra-Commerce shed 3.2 per cent to 6.00 and Gamuda eased 3.6 per cent to 1.88.

Public Bank fell 1.2 per cent to 8.60 ringgit. On the upside, E & O added 9.2 per cent to 65 sen while Tenaga gained 0.8 per cent to 6.00.

JAKARTA: Down 1.7 per cent. The Jakarta Composite Index fell 22.7 points to 1,321.45 in thin volume.

Bank Danamon slid 15 per cent on fears it will report poor fourth quarter earnings due to foreign exchange losses. Gas distributor Gas Negara fell 7.3 per cent to 1,900 rupiah. Telkom shed 2.3 per cent to 6,300.

WELLINGTON: Down 0.16 per cent. The NZX-50 index fell 4.44 points to close at 2,705.04 on turnover worth $94.3 million (49.9 million US).

Market leader Telecom rose five cents to $2.47.

MUMBAI: Down 3.53 per cent. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index slid 321.38 points to 8,779.17, its lowest level in over a month.—AFP