TOKYO
Japanese share prices fell 2.23 per cent in morning trade on Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street where there were renewed worries about problems in the banking sector, dealers said.

They said news that Japan's economy contracted in the second quarter of this year also dampened the mood, although it had been widely expected.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange?s benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 297.02 points to 13,006.58 by the lunch break. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares declined 26.46 points or 2.08 per cent to 1,244.96.

SHANGHAI
China's main stock index tumbled to a fresh 19-month low on Wednesday, hit by concern that slower economic growth would hurt corporate profits, but the market bounced sharply by the close.

The Shanghai Composite Index slid as much as 3.52 per cent to a low of 2,370.737 points at mid-afternoon.

But it then rebounded briefly into positive territory before closing down just 0.44 per cent at 2,446.297 points.

Some traders noted rumours that government-backed funds might be entering the market in a deliberate effort to support stocks, although the government has so far taken little concrete action to halt a slide that has brought the index down 60 per cent from last October's peak.

Most analysts attributed the rebound to scattered buying of blue chips by mutual funds after the index had lost nearly 10 per cent over the three previous trading days.

Thin turnover amplified the bounce, they said.

'There is no specific news in the market this afternoon,' said analyst Zhou Xin at Huatai Securities in Nanjing. 'The market had really fallen too much since late last week, and a mild rebound is natural.'

'Investor confidence remains at a low ebb, so we expect the market to stage only a mild rebound of 100 points or so.'

Falling Shanghai A shares outnumbered gainers by 493 to 409, while turnover in Shanghai A shares remained very thin at 35.2 billion yuan (S$7.16 billion), though it was up from Tuesday's 30.8 billion yuan, which was the lowest since November 2006.

HONG KONG
Hong Kong share prices closed down 1.6 per cent on Wednesday, falling for a fourth consecutive day on renewed credit worries, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 347.57 points at 21,293.32.

Turnover was 69.32 billion Hong Kong dollars (S$12.3 billion).

China financial stocks were among the top decliners with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tumbling 5.4 per cent while China Construction Bank plunged 6.1 per cent.

KUALA LUMPUR
Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended the day mixed amid weak sentiment following Wall Street's overnight losses dragged down by financial stocks, dealers said.

Losses on key heavyweights resulted the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) ending the day at 1,112.53, losing 6.25 points after opening 1.37 points lower at 1,117.41 this morning.

Throughout the session, the KLCI moved between 1,106.06 and 1,121.31.

The Industrial Index declined 15.34 points to 2,311.71, the Finance Index lost 36.82 points to 8,848.57 and the Plantation Index dropped 40.21 points to 5,631.71.

Of the FTSE-BM Index series, the FBM2BRD shed 40.13 points to 5,286.37, the FBMMDQ lost 23.77 points to 4,291.81, the FBMEmas dropped 42.91 points to 7,413.91 and the FBM30 decreased 39.70 points to 7,153.28.

Losers beat gainers by 322 to 204, 240 counters were unchanged, 583 untraded and 25 suspended.

Turnover improved to 335.855 million shares worth RM761.017 million compared to 292.924 million shares worth RM541.404 million yesterday. -- AFP, BERNAMA