Asian stocks end down on Wall Street losses

Asian stocks end down on Wall Street losses

HONG KONG (Dow Jones): Asian stocks fell sharply Monday in a stereotypical knee-jerk reaction to Wall Street's heavy losses Friday.

But in some markets - specifically Indonesia, Japan and Hong Kong - domestic concerns aggravated the already bearish sentiment and pressured indexes to fall to fresh lows.

Despite the heavy losses, analysts aren't bracing for a technical rebound in Asian markets Tuesday or in the succeeding days.

"We can most likely expect another day or two days, at least, of carnage. Markets are getting terribly oversold, but there's no indication we are nearing bottom," said John Schofield, regional technical analyst at Prudential Bache Securities Ltd.

In Indonesia, the region's worst performing stock market Monday, pressure came mostly from the rupiah plunging to a fresh 30-month low and nervousness over escalating political instability and civil unrest. Jakarta's JSX Composite index fell 17.495 points, or 4.2 percent, to 396.611, its lowest since April 7, 1999.

In Japan, the sharply weaker yen and uncertainty over economic prospects further soured sentiment for the technology-heavy market. The Nikkei 225 Average fell 456.53 points, or 3.6 percent, to 12171.37, its lowest close since April 1985. The Nikkei 225 is now down 11.7 percent since the start of 2001, making it this year's worst performing index in Asia so far this year.

In Hong Kong, concerns over delays in the property sector's full recovery and specific attention to China Mobile Hong Kong Ltd.'s unclear earnings prospects also weighed on stock prices. The Hang Seng Index fell 417.63 points, or 2.9 percent, to 13776.72, its lowest since May 26, 2000.

South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines also suffered heavy losses. Thailand was affected only slightly as bank share prices rose on optimism bad loan ratios could improve following the creation of the Thai Asset Management Company.

As reported, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 213.63 points Friday, or 2 percent, to 10644.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 115.95 points Friday, or 5.3 percent, at 2052.78, its lowest close since December 17, 1998.

Wall Street's losses Friday were sparked by a warning from Intel Corp. that its first quarter earnings will fall short of internal expectations as well as renewed concerns that U.S. interest rates may not come down as sharply as initially expected.

Strong Nasdaq gains triggered heavy buying of technology- related stocks in Asia up until March last year, after which sentiment turned sour. Nasdaq's close Friday was a 59 percent drop compared with its record high of 5048.62 March 10, 2000.

Tom Schroder, global technical analyst at SG Securities Pte Ltd., expects the Nasdaq index to test the psychologically- important support level of 2000 in coming days, during which time further losses are also expected in Asian equity markets.

"The next few days are going to be quite critical," Schroder said, noting a selldown in Nasdaq to the 2000 level will be painful for Asia but could at least provide a few days of bargain hunting.

Meanwhile, Schroder doesn't expect an aggressive easing of monetary policy in the U.S., which would be a further blow to Asian stocks. Investors were hoping that further cuts in U.S. interest rates would trigger a significant shift in funds from the U.S to Asia and Europe.