Shares prices fall worldwide<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Shares prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange
\n(JSX) plunged sharply by 8.59 percent or 42.12 points to a new
\nlow of 447.99 points yesterday as billions of dollars were wiped
\noff stock exchanges worldwide.<\/p>\n
The panic selling by most investors was triggered by the
\novernight plunge in Wall Street on Monday and another crash of
\nthe Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday, brokers said.<\/p>\n
\"I think Tuesday's fall in the global market is a reoccurrence
\nof the Black October crash a decade ago,\" Edi Widjoyo of Mashil
\nJaya Securities said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Most stock brokers in Jakarta said stocks across the board
\nbecame sell-off targets of foreign and local fund managers
\nforcing the local main price gauge to fall steeply.<\/p>\n
\"Most investors were in a panic-selling mode in response to
\nthe global stock market crash,\" David P. O'Neil, vice president
\nof research at Lippo Securities said.<\/p>\n
David Chang, head of research at Trimegah Securities, said the
\nfall of regional stock markets several months ago had perforated
\nthe global market.<\/p>\n
He said stock markets in Southeast Asian countries were badly
\nhit as they bore the brunt of the currency crisis in the region,
\ntriggered by the devaluation of the Thai baht in early July this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
\"Now the Asian virus has spread to the world,\" Chang said
\nyesterday, referring to the fall of global stock markets.<\/p>\n
\"The general feeling is that we cannot do much. We just lie
\nlow and find out what the corporate problems are and try to cope
\nwith those problems,\" Chang added.<\/p>\n
Most securities analysts contacted by The Jakarta Post said
\nthat it was a really difficult time for the Jakarta stock market.
\n\"It's very difficult to estimate when the Jakarta market will
\nrecover,\" O'Neil said.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported Asian markets dropped after the Dow Jones
\nindustrial average lost 554.26 points, or 7.2 percent, to end at
\n7,161.15 overnight in New York.<\/p>\n
In Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng index saw its largest ever
\ndrop -- 1,438.31 points, or 13.78 percent -- Chief Executive Tung
\nChee-hwa held his first crisis cabinet meeting since the
\nterritory reverted to Chinese rule in July.<\/p>\n
He later told reporters his government remained optimistic
\nabout the Hong Kong stock market and that currency speculators
\nwho triggered recent record market falls had retreated.<\/p>\n
\"In fact on the currency side, the speculators who came to
\nspeculate against our currency have basically left us, so from
\nnow the currency can be stabilized,\" Tung said.<\/p>\n
In Tokyo, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka told reporters
\nthere was no doubt Japan's economic fundamentals were sound.<\/p>\n
Chief cabinet spokesman Kanezo Muraoka was equally blunt: \"It
\nis not appropriate for the government to intervene in the stock
\nmarket,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
In a warning to investors, Muraoka added: \"We would like
\ninvestors throughout the world to watch the stock markets calmly
\nand to invest cautiously.\"<\/p>\n
Tokyo stocks fell 725.67 points, or 4.26, percent to close at
\n16,312.69, the smallest decline of major markets.<\/p>\n
In Taipei, Finance Minister Paul Chiu said Taiwan's economy
\nwas sound and the state would support the markets, although only
\nwhen necessary.<\/p>\n
Taiwan's stock market closed down 5.91 percent at 7,210.90.
\nThe Taiwan dollar closed at a 10-year low of T$30.800 against
\nMonday's T$30.510 finish.<\/p>\n
In Canberra, Acting Prime Minister Tim Fischer told
\nparliament: \"The truth of the matter is that it is a very serious
\nsituation.\"<\/p>\n
\"We have in fact taken a number of budgetary steps which will
\nensure that Australia will weather the storm a whole lot better
\nthan would have been the case had (the) Labor (Party) continued
\nin power and created further debt and budget deficits,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Australian share market closed down 7.2 percent at
\n2,299.20 points.<\/p>\n
In Bangkok, where Asia's financial crisis started earlier this
\nyear, Thai Finance Minister Kosit Panpiemras said his government
\nwas watching the situation closely.<\/p>\n
The Thai stock index was down 29.60 points, or 6.03 percent,
\nin late afternoon, and Kosit blamed its fall on the turmoil on
\nWall Street's plunge.<\/p>\n
In Kuala Lumpur, the benchmark Composite Index of 100 key
\nstocks was down at a four-year low of 46.07 points or 6.64
\npercent to 647.32, slightly above its session low of 646.21. The
\nringgit touched a new low against the dollar earlier.<\/p>\n
\"People are hurting a lot today, it's not very nice,\"
\ncommented an equity analyst with a foreign firm.<\/p>\n
In Singapore, the key share index ended at a 58-month low
\nafter the market was besieged with heavy fund redemptions.<\/p>\n
The key Straits Times Industrials Index (STII) ended near
\nintraday lows at 1,497.03, down 7.59 percent, or 122.87 points.<\/p>\n
It slumped to a new year low of 1,486.74, last seen in
\nDecember 1992, before paring losses on short covering.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported from New York last night that the Dow Jones
\nindustrial average lost more than 100 points in early trading
\nyesterday as the global stock market sell-off continued.<\/p>\n
At 9:49 a.m. EST (1449 GMT), the Dow was off 106.09 points at
\n7,055.06, adding to the previous day's loss of 554 points, the
\nbiggest point loss ever.<\/p>\n
Stocks fell sharply in Asia overnight and were sharply lower
\nin Europe. The Nasdaq index of smaller and high-technology stocks
\ntumbled 59.88 or 3.9 percent to 1,475.21. (aly)<\/p>\n
Related stories on Page 10, 11 and 12<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/shares-prices-fall-worldwide-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }