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ASIA: Asian markets decline on credit, demand concerns

Investors monitor market prices at private stock gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday. PHOTO: AFP

Asian stocks declined for the second week, led by banks, carmakers and technology companies, on concern credit-market losses could widen and slowing US demand could hurt earnings.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc and National Australia Bank Ltd dropped after Goldman, Sachs & Co said US banks will need to raise US$65 billion in new capital as credit markets deteriorate. Honda Motor Co, which gets about half of its sales from North America, fell after brokerages said US vehicle sales may plunge.

The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index lost 0.4 percent to 140.06 this week. Last week it tumbled 6.5 percent, the sharpest decline since August last year.

TAIPEI

Taiwanese share prices are expected to extend losses next week as a breach of the key 8,000-point level seen this week has further dampened market confidence amid inflation fears, dealers said on Friday.

High crude oil and food prices still haunt the local bourse on concerns that rising consumer prices will impact local economic growth, while unstable US markets are likely to add uncertainty to local market performance, they said.

For the week to Friday, the TAIEX closed down 203.15 points or 2.51 percent at 7,902.44, after a 7.32 percent fall a week earlier.

Average daily turnover stood at NT$86 billion (US$2.83 billion), compared with NT$106.50 billion last week.

“Investors have grown bearish after witnessing the index falling 8,000 points Friday. It seems to me that more and more of them want to exit as soon as they can,” President Securities Co (統一證券) analyst Steven Huang said.

“With foreign investors moving to the sell side, market heavyweights, in particular electronic and financial shares, may encounter heavier selling pressure,” Huang said.

Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) analyst Young Wang said as the month is coming to an end, local fund managers may lift the market to dress up their half-year books, helping the bourse recoup some recent losses.

TOKYO

Japanese share prices ended 1.33 percent lower as investors found little reason to buy following a subdued performance overnight on Wall Street, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index dropped 188.09 points to end at 13,942.08.

The broader TOPIX index of all first-section shares lost 18.86 points or 1.37 percent to 1,356.74.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong share prices closed down 0.23 percent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 52.01 points at 22,745.6.

SYDNEY

Australian shares closed down 1.5 percent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 78.3 points to 5,288.3, while the broader All Ordinaries dropped 72.5 points to 5,411.8.

SHANGHAI

Chinese share prices closed 3.01 percent higher, dealers said.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, closed up 82.86 points at 2,831.74.

The Shanghai A-share Index was up 3.02 percent at 2,970.93. The Shenzhen A-share Index added 1.82 percent at 831.92.

SEOUL

South Korean shares closed 0.6 percent lower, dealers said.

The KOSPI index ended down 9.72 points at 1,731.00.

SINGAPORE

Singapore share prices closed 0.31 percent higher, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) rose 9.15 points to 3,001.81.

KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysian share prices closed 0.9 percent higher, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index added 10.28 points to 1,206.67.

BANGKOK

The Thai stock market closed up 3.56 percent, dealers said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index soared 26.44 points to close at 768.90 points, while the blue-chip SET 50 index rebounded 21.88 points to close at 550.46.

MANILA

Philippine share prices closed 0.5 percent lower, dealers said.

The composite index lost 14.02 points to 2,578.57, while the all-share index fell 0.3 percent to 1,631.36 points.

MUMBAI

Indian shares closed down 3.42 percent, dealers said.

The benchmark Mumbai 30-share SENSEX index slid 516.7 points to 14,571.29.
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