U.S. stocks, local concerns pull Asian markets down
U.S. stocks, local concerns pull Asian markets down
SINGAPORE (Reuters): A holiday for Japan's depressed markets gave the rest of Asia little respite yesterday as an overnight fall in U.S. stocks and niggling domestic concerns pulled most regional markets lower.
South Korean shares bucked the trend, shooting up over 3 percent on news the government was seeking an early end to limits on foreign stockholdings. The rise broke a six-day losing streak for Seoul stocks.
The picture was almost as bleak elsewhere as traders reacted nervously to a second straight day of losses on Wall Street and the yen's lingering weakness against the dollar.
The Dow Jones index fell 18.68 points on Tuesday, following its 147-point slump the previous day.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed down 207.46 points, or 1.94 percent, at 10,471.15, after swinging through a 249-point range during the day.
Taiwan's index closed down 86.32 points, 1.02 percent, at 8,348.35. The market's main barometer -- the electronics index -- fell a hefty 2.09 percent.
The Korea Stock Exchange composite stock price index surged 14.66 points, or 3.64 percent, to end at 417.05, as traders hoped a lifting of the foreign stockholding ceiling would open up the floodgates for foreign money coming into the crisis-hit economy.
Australia's All Ordinaries index dipped 32.2 points to 2,749.1, as the big news of the day -- March quarter inflation data -- showed annual inflation of 1.5 percent.
Thai shares succumbed to selling pressure on large capitalized stocks to end nearly 2 percent down, the lowest close for the SET index since Jan. 16.
The index closed 7.30 points, or 1.74 percent, lower at 412.25.
Kuala Lumpur stocks eked out a two-point, 0.33 percent, gain to end at 622.83 as dealers awaited news of a restructuring at Malaysian Airlines, traders said.
Key Singapore shares made strong gains on selective buying, pushing the Straits Times index up to 1,502.11, 1.37 percent higher.
The Bombay exchange index dived 2.75 percent to 3,970.51, crashing through the 4,000 mark.