bigsale
November 9th, 2007, 07:48 AM
Shanghai worst-hit as Asian stocks get hammered
HONG KONG — Asian stocks tumbled yesterday after big falls on Wall Street due to growing concerns that the United States' economy could slow amid a credit crunch, a sliding greenback and high oil prices.
The Shanghai market was one of the worst hit, sliding 4.85 per cent as trading screens across Asia turned red. The rout pushed down shares in Taiwan and Hong Kong by 3.90 and 3.20 per cent respectively.
The US remains a key destination for Asian exports but is struggling to deal with a sub-prime mortgage crisis, where defaults on loans extended to riskier homebuyers have hit its housing market and threaten an economic slowdown.
Meanwhile, at a Congressional hearing yesterday, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the American economy would likely "slow noticeably" this quarter while high commodity prices and a weaker US dollar may stoke inflation "for a time".
China's large capitalised shares ended down sharply after their ADRs traded in New York plunged overnight amid a broad sell-off on Wall Street.
Analysts also attributed the fall to internal factors, as the China market has remained weak, with the benchmark index losing 10 per cent of its value this month.
"China is going to release economic indicators for October next week, so inflation worries also weigh on the market," said Mr Xu Yinhui, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities.
Share prices in Japan, Asia's biggest economy, closed down 2 per cent at a two-month low. Singapore and Malaysia stocks escaped being hit as they were closed for a public holiday. — Agencies
Source: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/221265.asp
HONG KONG — Asian stocks tumbled yesterday after big falls on Wall Street due to growing concerns that the United States' economy could slow amid a credit crunch, a sliding greenback and high oil prices.
The Shanghai market was one of the worst hit, sliding 4.85 per cent as trading screens across Asia turned red. The rout pushed down shares in Taiwan and Hong Kong by 3.90 and 3.20 per cent respectively.
The US remains a key destination for Asian exports but is struggling to deal with a sub-prime mortgage crisis, where defaults on loans extended to riskier homebuyers have hit its housing market and threaten an economic slowdown.
Meanwhile, at a Congressional hearing yesterday, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the American economy would likely "slow noticeably" this quarter while high commodity prices and a weaker US dollar may stoke inflation "for a time".
China's large capitalised shares ended down sharply after their ADRs traded in New York plunged overnight amid a broad sell-off on Wall Street.
Analysts also attributed the fall to internal factors, as the China market has remained weak, with the benchmark index losing 10 per cent of its value this month.
"China is going to release economic indicators for October next week, so inflation worries also weigh on the market," said Mr Xu Yinhui, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities.
Share prices in Japan, Asia's biggest economy, closed down 2 per cent at a two-month low. Singapore and Malaysia stocks escaped being hit as they were closed for a public holiday. — Agencies
Source: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/221265.asp