Asian markets tumble on worries about U.S. economy
Wednesday, 19 December 2007, 01:30 IST
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Tokyo: Asian stocks fell sharply Monday, reacting to Friday's losses on Wall Street and growing fears of a looming U.S. recession. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunged 264.72 points, or 1.71 percent, to close at 15,249.79. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was down 28.55 points, or 1.9 percent, at 1,472.70. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell by 967.06 points to close at 26,596.58, more than 5,000 points down on its high of almost 32,000 at the end of October. Turnover was 104.43 billion Hong Kong dollars ($13.4 billion). Shares in China's other main stock market fell by 2.6 percent, prompted by fears of more tightening measures by the government to curb lending and over-development of real estate. The key Shanghai Composite Index, which measures shares traded in both local and foreign currency, ended the day at 4,876.76, down 131.15 points. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index also lost 2.21 percent of its value, as stocks in the banking and real estate sectors pulled down the two markets. Shares in China's biggest property developer by listed value, Vanke, lost 9.5 percent Monday. India's benchmark Sensex stock index fell by 3.84 percent, while the broader Nifty shed 4.48 percent. The 30-share Sensex, which has remained weak during the last two trading sessions, fell by 769.48 points to 19,261.35, with most heavyweight shares declining. The 50-share Nifty dipped 270 points to close at 5,777. The day saw heavy selling across most sectors, especially in metals, capital goods, banking, oil, power and telecom. Shares also fell sharply on South Korean markets. The benchmark Kospi index plunged 55.23 points, or 2.9 percent, to close at 1,839.82. Declining issues outnumbered advancers 686 to 119. The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market fell 23.04 points to 702.49. Taiwan's stock index tumbled 3.54 percent to a nine-month low, as local political uncertainties and Wall Street's fall sharply dampened market sentiment. The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange, which opened more than 1 percent lower, slipped to 7,830.85, a plunge of 287.23 points, or 3.54 percent, from the previous session's trade. The drop sent the market to its lowest level since March 28. All eight major sectors fell, with paper dipping 6.5 percent, followed by food's 6.4 percent and textile's 4 percent. The tech sector lost 3.8 percent. In Bangkok, the Stock Exchange of Thailand index ended at 817.62, down 18.78 points, or 2.3 percent on Friday's index. The volume of trade amounted to 12.5 billion baht ($368 million). Stocks on the Singapore Exchange also tumbled, falling 3.2 percent.
Source: IANS
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