From reading articles this morning in the Bangkok Post online paper and the South China Morning Post, it sounds like there was an overall "meltdown" in the Asian Markets. I think CPPKY just got caught up in that.
Bangkok post (online) April 18, 2000
bangkokpost.com
Asia bourses spooked into huge sell-off
A massive sell-off swept through Asian stock markets yesterday as investors dumped shares in reaction to last week's record losses on Wall Street.
In Tokyo, the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell in its fifth-largest drop, prompting officials to consider propping up the market.
The Nikkei lost 1,426.04 points, or 6.98%, to close at 19,008.64. On Friday, the average closed down 91.74 points, or 0.45%.
After the Tokyo close, ruling coalition policy chiefs agreed to recommend pumping up to one trillion yen ($9.7 billion) in public funds into the stock market if it continues to plunge.
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said the government was "carefully monitoring" the market.
In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 1,380.39 points, or 8.6%, closing at 14,762.37. It was the index's worst point decline since Oct 28, 1997, when it shed 1,438.31 points.
"I had no idea this thing could be so bad," said Mark Mobius, an emerging markets fund manager in Hong Kong with Templeton Franklin Investment Services (Asia) Ltd.
South Korean shares also plunged, with the main index suffering its worst-ever fall as investors went on a selling spree.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 707.72 points, down 93.17, or 11.6%. It was the market's biggest single-day decline both in terms of points and percentage.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 617.78 points, or 5.7%, to 10,305.77-by far its biggest one-day point drop ever.
The Nasdaq composite index, home to the technology stocks whose popularity has evaporated, also suffered its worst point drop ever-down 355.49, or almost 10%, to 3,321.29.
Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index fell 190.37 points, or 8.69%, to close at 1,999.39. It was the STI's biggest fall since Oct 20, 1987, when the index fell 266 points, or 25.3%, to 787.53.
Bucking the trend was Taiwan, where prices closed higher for the first time in six sessions amid government-fund buying and bargain-hunting after Saturday's 5.4% plunge. |
