Investors gripped by fear, prompting massive sell-off.
Nikkei posts biggest 1-day loss since 1987 crash
Thai stock exchange suspended twice
Singapore's Straits Times index fell more than 7 per cent, its seventh consecutive day of falls, after data confirmed one of Asia?s richest economies was in a recession. -- PHOTO: THOMSON REUTERS
TOKYO - A MASSIVE sell-off on Wall Street and escalating fears of a global recession sent Asian stocks plunging on Friday, with Japan's benchmark index plunging more than 10 per cent.
'Selling is unstoppable in New York and Tokyo', said Mr Yutaka Miura, senior strategist at Shinko Securities in Tokyo. 'Investors were gripped by fear.'
Stock market plunging into pit of despair
SAN FRANCISCO - COULD it be just a year ago that jubilant investors were celebrating record highs in the stock market?
It almost seems inconceivable now as both Wall Street and Main Street stare into a seemingly bottomless pit of despair that has swallowed up US$8.3 trillion (S$12.3 trillion) in shareholder wealth during the past 366 days.
Markets in Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines were all down more than 7 per cent.
Shanghai's index was down 3.8 per cent.
Indonesian authorities suspended trading indefinitely on the Jakarta Stock Exchange after they had halted trading on Wednesday after the index plunged more than 10 per cent.
In Tokyo, news of Friday's developments left individual investors shellshocked.
Mr Kenji Akasaka, 69, president of a local printing company, said he had never seen it this bad in the 40 years he has traded stocks.
He said he invests mainly in blue-chips including Toyota Motor and Nintendo.
'I pray before I go to bed that the Dow will recover,' said Mr Akasaka, 69, as he scanned a monitor displaying the latest market levels. 'I get sleepless, thinking about losses.'
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average plummeted 10.3 per cent to 8,217.50 in early afternoon trading and appeared headed for its second biggest one day loss ever.
The Tokyo bourse and the Osaka Securities Exchange briefly suspended some futures and options trading during the morning.
The regional sell-off follow a 7.3 per cent plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average on Thursday to close below the 9,000-line for the first time in five years.
Stocks nose-dived after a major credit-rating agency said it might cut its rating on General Motors and Ford Motor, further rattling investors already fretting over the impact of tight credit on the economy.
The Dow's seven-day decline of 20.9 per cent is the largest since the seven-day plunge ending Oct 26, 1987, when the Dow lost 23.8 per cent.
That sell-off included Black Monday, the Oct 19, 1987 market crash that saw the Dow fall nearly 23 per cent in a single day.
The sluggishness in the credit markets that triggered much of the heavy selling in markets around the world since mid-September appeared little changed even after a string of interest rate cuts by central banks in the US, Europe and Asia this week in an attempt to resuscitate lending.
'There's no bottom to the stock markets now', said Mr Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong. 'There's no clue when it will stop.'
Analysts also said there's pressing need for the US to quickly implement the US$700 billion plan to buy up toxic mortgage-related securities from troubled banks and financial institutions that are at the core of problem.
In Japan, insolvencies in the insurance and real estate sectors accelerated the pessimism.
Mid-sized Yamato Life Insurance went bankrupt on Friday on losses related to global stock woes, while New City Investment Corp's bankruptcy filing made it Japan's first real-estate investment trust to fail.
Japanese Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano sought to reassure the country even as markets tumbled.
'We need to make sure that we don't get pulled too much by global tides,' Mr Yosano said. 'I hope investors Japan's makes decisions calmly based on Japan's economic fundamentals.'
Ms Lucinda Chan, associate director of Macquarie Equities in Sydney, called the market moves 'ghastly'.
'It is a very different and very unprecedented climate at the moment', she said. 'Growth is going to be a major concern in this market and that is why the Australian market is getting a very hard pinch because we are a commodity export nation.'
Asia's falls come as finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations prepared to meet later on Friday in Washington.
'Investors are not so sure that the G7 will announce effective measures to contain the global financial crisis,' Mr Miura in Tokyo said.
In currencies, the dollar fell to 98.69 yen on Friday afternoon in Asia from 98.82 yen late on Thursday. The euro stood at US$1.3548 from US$1.3560.
SINGAPORE Singapore shares closed sharply lower, with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) down 154.38 points, or 7.34 per cent, at 1,948.33.
Up to 1.6 billion shares exchanged hands.
Losers beat gainers 534 to 87.
KUALA LUMPUR Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday on continued worries over a global recession and the sharp overnight fall on Wall Street, dealers said.
The benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) closed 34.88 points to 934.01, after opening 23.80 points lower at 945.09.
The benchmark index had moved between 931.79 and 949.68.
The KLCI fell to an intra-day low of 931.79 from July 27, 2005 as investors stayed on the sidelines, looking for fresh leads, a dealer said.
The Industrial Index declined 47.89 points to 2,145.46, the Finance Index shed 432.89 points to 7,281.71 and the Plantation Index slipped 234.44 points to 4,169.76.
The FBMEmas declined 248.61 points to 6,197.26, the FBM30 slipped 218.80 points to 6,055.45, the FBM2BRD declined 262.16 points to 4,553.14 and the FBMMesdaq was 159.32 points lower at 3,642.91.
Losers led gainers by 695 to 71, while 140 counters were unchanged, 430 untraded and 27 suspended.
The day's turnover increased to 739.382 million shares worth RM1.604 billion ($672 million) compared with yesterday's closing of 490.673 million shares valued at RM1.0 billion.
BANGKOK Thai share prices closed 9.61 per cent lower on Friday, amid concerns about the global financial crisis and domestic turmoil from anti government protests in Bangkok, dealers said.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index fell 48.03 points to close at 451.96 points, while the blue-chip SET-50 index fell 36.98 points to 311.16.
SHANGHAI Chinese share prices closed down 3.57 per cent on Friday in line with slumping regional markets, with fears mounting over the spreading financial crisis, dealers said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was down 74.01 points at 2,000.57 on turnover of 38.5 billion yuan ($8.3 billion).
The Shanghai A-share index shed 77.49 points, or 3.56 per cent, to 2,101.30 points on turnover of 38.3 billion yuan, while the Shenzhen A-share index was down 32.78 points, or 5.55 per cent, at 558.34 on turnover of 15.5 billion yuan.
HONG KONG Hong Kong share prices closed down 7.2 per cent on Friday, as panic about the state of the global banking industry gripped markets across Asia, dealers said.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 1,146.37 points at 14,796.87.
Turnover was 69.37 billion Hong Kong dollars (S$13.14 billion).
SEOUL South Korean shares closed 4.1 per cent lower on Friday in line with an Asia-wide slump, recovering some ground after a morning decline of almost eight per cent.
The KOSPI index ended down 53.42 points at 1,241.47.
TOKYO Japan's Nikkei stock index plunged 9.62 per cent on Friday, the biggest loss since 'Black Monday' in October 1987 as market panic grew over the global financial crisis.
It was the third biggest loss ever for the Nikkei, which dived 881.06 points to end at 8,276.43.
The index has lost more than 24 per cent over the past week.
MUMBAI India's main stock index provisionally fell 6.99 per cent on Friday, as panicky investors joined a global selloff with weak industrial output adding to the gloom.
ICICI Bank provisionally ended down 17.25 per cent at 375.25 rupees, after falling as much as 28 per cent during trade on concerns about potential exposure to the global financial crisis. The bank said its exposure was very small.
The 30-share BSE index provisionally fell 791.67 points to 10,536.69. It dropped as much as 9.6 per cent in early trade.
The 50-share NSE index provisionally shed 6.7 per cent to 3,278.50. -- AFP, THOMSON REUTERS, BERNAMA
