Asia-Pacific stocks slump in line with Wall Street

Asia-Pacific stocks slump in line with Wall Street

TOKYO (AFP): Share markets across the Asia-Pacific region plunged Monday with some haunted by a sharp drop on Wall Street and others by the specter of currency volatility,

Japanese share prices nosedived 4.0 percent with the sell-off on Wall Street and the yen's advance against the dollar triggering panic selling in late trading, brokers said.

"Friday's drop on Wall Street and a surge in the yen depressed market sentiment, with some investors forced to dump their stocks in panic when they saw the Nikkei dropping below 19,000 points," said a broker at one of Japan's "Big Four" securities houses.

The Nikkei stock average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 780.28 points to finish at 18,824.18, falling below the 18,900 point level for the first time since April 29, when the key index ended at 18,670.37.

In Hong Kong, share prices slumped 1.1 percent following the Wall Street drop, dealers said.

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index dived 187.07 points to close at 16,460.47 -- its second consecutive loss after a record closing high of 16,673.24 set last Thursday.

In Singapore, blue-chip stock index fell 2.6 percent to a four-year-low on concerns about neighboring Malaysia's economy and confusion over the dual listing of foreign and local shares here, dealers said.

"The concern over the sharp fall in the Malaysian ringgit coupled with jitters over the dual listing of local and foreign shares eroded market confidence," said Chandra Mahawar, dealer with Deutsche Morgan Grenfell here.

The Stock Exchange of Singapore's blue-chip benchmark, the Straits Times Industrials index, dropped 50.06 points to end at 1,893.86, a four-year low, while the broader All-Singapore index dipped 17.66 points to 481.28.

In Sydney, the Australian Stock Exchange's key all ordinaries index fell 44.2 points to 2,667.2.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's key stock index slumped 3.2 percent to a 20-month closing low as foreign funds sold stock amid concerns over the country's economy.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange 100-share weighted composite index tumbled 30.22 points to close at 902.14, after dropping to the day's low of 897.21, the lowest closing and trading levels seen since November 1995.

In Bangkok, Thai share prices dropped 0.7 percent as investors waited for details of government spending plans for a multi- billion-dollar International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance package.

An SCF Finance analyst said the market did not react to the developments because investors were not sure about what the government would spend the money on.

"They were more concerned over the next step, what the government would do after Thailand got the loan package," the analyst said.

The main Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index lost 4.60 points to finish at 632.25 points, while the selected SET 50 index was down 0.31 point at 47. 86.

In Taipei, investors sold mainstream electrical issues to hunt for bargains in the construction sector, dragging the Taiwan bourse down 1.0 percent, brokers said.

"More retail investors shifted to pursue low-priced, lagging construction and asset-backed shares from high-priced electrical issues," said Cooper Liao of Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co. Ltd.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index slid 96.27 points to 9,897. 27.

In Manila, Philippine share prices slumped 2.8 percent on a technical correction and amid concerns over corporate results and the currency markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index fell 75.39 points to close at 2,572.43 points.

In Seoul, share prices closed 0.6 percent higher on the Korea Stock Exchange on limited buying of financial shares, dealers said.

Investors remained cautious as they were uncertain on the direction of the market due to lack of market boosting news, they said.

The composite index closed up 4.23 points at 765.07.

In Auckland, the NZSE-40 capital index closed down 30.05 points at 2,508.40.

In Shanghai, the B share index closed 2.21 points down at 72. 71 points while the A share index of locally traded stocks fell 22.61 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,239.56 points.