Share prices continue to plunge in Asia's major stock exchanges

TOKYO (AFP): Share prices continued to plunge on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday as investors showed concern about the yen's further advance against other currencies.

The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues in the first section closed 338.87 points or 1.6 percent lower at 20,813.16 Tuesday. The index lost 351.27 points at the close the previous day.

The broader-based Tokyo Stock Price Index, which lost 21.06 points Monday, ended 20.50 points lower at 1,663.97.

First-section turnover shrank from the previous day's 416 million shares to an estimated 380 million.

Investors continued to sell Japanese shares, eyeing the appreciation of the yen, market sources said.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index lost 140.40 points to close the day's trading at 8,857.78 -- its lowest since May 13.

Turnover remained thin at HK$2.60 billion (US$334 million), against the previous day's HK$2.24 billion.

In Taipei, following the previous session's 121.31-point drop, the 374-issue weighted price index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange lost another 89.44 points or 1.48 percent to settle at 5,948.97 points.

Turnover dwindled to 945 million shares valued at T$46.74 billion ($1.73 billion) as compared with 1,047 million shares for T$57.66 billion for the previous trading.

In Singapore, the blue-chip Straits Times Industrials index shed 22.63 points to close provisionally at 2,261.87.

In Bangkok, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index dropped 23.96 points, or 1.77 percent, to close at 1,329.32 Tuesday due to a world oil price hike and domestic political and economic uncertainty, brokers said.

Volume was low in sluggish trading, with 92 million shares worth 7.1 billion bath ($284 million) changing hands.

In Sydney, the All Ordinaries Index plunged to 1,993.6 points at the close, down 30.8 points or 1.5 percent on Monday's finish. The All Industrials Index fell 50.0 points to 2,884.8 and the All Resources Index dropped 16.2 points to 1,326.7.

National turnover totaled 275 million shares worth A$664 million ($485 million) with falling stock outnumbering those rising by nearly three to one.

In London, by midmorning, the FT-SE 100 index of leading shares was down 6.9 points to 2,964.2 -- a drop of 0.2 percent, after rising 6.1 points in early trading. Gilts lost 5/8 of a point.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index rose 0.04 percent to 1,902.21 points, down from earlier levels.

In New York, the Dow Jones index of 30 leading industrials lost 34.88 points to close at 3,741.90 at the end of the session.

Trading was slow, with just 229 million shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange. Losers outstripped winners by 1,715 to 494, with 599 shares unchanged.