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