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MARKETS: Panic strikes
Share markets closed lower across Asia as the
prospect of more financial scandals in the US and the
continued weakness of Wall Street sparked panic selling.
Japan
Tokyo stocks plunged 2.5 percent
amid continued worries over possible further financial
scandals in the US. The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei
225 index dropped 266.92 points to close at 10,485.74.
Cell-phone service NTT DoCoMo crunched 3.05
percent lower to 477,000 yen. Land-line parent NTT
dropped 2.77 percent to 492,000 yen.
Orix stock
closed down 4.8 at 8,500 yen and is down more than
one-fifth since Ohki's report in June.
Hong
Kong
Share prices in Hong Kong plummeted 2.1
percent following Wall Street's continued falls
overnight. The Hang Seng index shed 228.73 points to
finish at 10,558.81.
South Korea
Seoul
stocks plunged. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock
Price Index (Kospi) dropped 29.83 points or 3.75 percent
to 764.88 points, extending losses for the second day.
Volume stood at 1.12 billion shares valued at
3.2 trillion won (US$2.71 billion). Losers led winners
607 to 178 with 38 remaining unchanged.
The
Korean won's continual strengthening and falling
semiconductor prices also brought the Seoul bourse down.
Foreign investors sold 104.9 billion won worth
of shares more than they bought, and local institutions
also dumped a net 136.9 billion won on the market.
Retail investors bought a net 248.7 billion won but
failed to halt the downward spiral. Net program selling
amounted to 285.8 billion won due to high selling
pressure on the day options expiry, helping to widen the
falling margins.
Most bluechips suffered losses
with market bellwether Samsung Electronics (KSE: 05930)
plunging 15,500 won (4.46 percent) to 331,500 won. SK
Telecom (17670) fell 7,000 won (2.56 percent) to 265,500
won. Kookmin Bank (60000), KT Corp (30200), POSCO
(05490) and Hyundai Motor (05380) shed 3.7 percent, 3.91
percent, 1.48 percent and 7.32 percent, respectively.
Hynix Semiconductor (00660) fell by nearly all
its 15-percent daily limit to 570 won, ending nine
consecutive days of limit-high climbs.
The
over-the-counter Kosdaq index fell 1.83 points or 2.71
percent to 65.62, also ending nine straight days of
ascent.
Foreigners and local institutions sold
8.8 billion won and 1.8 billion won, respectively, while
retail investors bought a net 12.9 billion won.
Volume stood at 446 million shares valued at
1.34 trillion won.
Decliners led advancers 581
to 184 with 47 unchanged.
Taiwan
Share
prices opened low and then fluctuated on the Taiwan
Stock Exchange (Taiex), with the weighted index, the
market's key barometer, moving down 59.42 points to
close at 5,202.59.
Affected by a plunge in US
stocks prices, the bourse opened at 5,163.27 and then
fluctuated between 5,277.39 and 5,162.26 during trading.
A total of 2.59 billion shares changed hands on
a market turnover of NT$63.64 billion (US$1.91 billion),
an increase from the previous trading session which saw
2.44 billion stocks change hands on a market turnover of
NT$61.94 billion (US$1.86 billion).
Two of the
eight major stock categories gained ground, with
plastics and chemical shares moving up the most at 2.7
percent, followed by foodstuff stocks at 0.2 percent.
The other major categories posted losses, with
cement stocks moving down the most at 3.7 percent,
followed by pulp and paper issues at 2.4 percent,
electrical shares at 1.6 percent, construction stocks at
1.5 percent, bank and insurance shares at 0.8 percent,
and textile issues at 0.3 percent.
Losers
outnumbered gainers 402 to 203, with 103 stocks
remaining unchanged.
Australia
The
Australian sharemarket fell 1.0 percent in reaction to
overnight falls on Wall Street. The Standard &
Poor's-Australian Stock Exchange 200 (SP/ASX 200) index
declined 33.8 points to 3,192.4 and the All Ordinaries
dropped 33.1 points at 3,142.1.
Elsewhere
Singapore stocks tumbled 1.5
percent, with investors sidelined following the falls in
New York. The Straits Times Index (STI) decreased 23.75
points to close at 1,608.19.
In Kuala Lumpur,
shares edged down 0.6 percent as investors took profits
in selected bluechips following Wall Street losses. The
Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index dropped 4.32
points to close at 738.85.
Wall Street's fall
also sparked profit-taking in Manila where share prices
dropped 1.2 percent. The Philippine Stock Exchange
composite index eased 13.98 points to close at 1,139.14.
The bourse in Jakarta finished 1.4 percent
weaker on continued selling of bluechips, including
Telkom. The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index ended
down 6.556 points at 470.819.
Bangkok also fell
sharply on the back of weakness in regional markets
following more accounting scandals in the US. The Stock
Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index shed 5.0
points, or 1.2 percent, to close at 397.97.
(Asia Times Online)
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