11/28 22:38
Asian Stocks Fall; Sony, Samsung Electronics Lead on Fed Survey
By Tomoko Yamazaki
quote.bloomberg.com
Tokyo, Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell, led by Sony Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and other exporters, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said their biggest market showed few signs of improvement in late October and the first half of November.
Concern demand for Asian goods won't pick up by mid-2002 dragged Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average down 0.6 percent and Korea's Kospi index 2.1 percent lower. News Corp. pushed Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index 0.5 percent lower, while Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan declined. In the past two months, indexes in the six markets had rallied as much as an average 14 percent.
``Investors are starting to face reality,'' said Koichi Ogawa, chief fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd., which manages $8.2 billion in Japanese equities. ``They were overly pessimistic in September and too optimistic in the last two months.''
The Fed survey, which said economic activity ``remained soft'' as businesses reduced spending and cut jobs, followed a worse-than-expected consumer confidence report for November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday had its biggest loss in a month on concern Enron Corp. may have to seek bankruptcy protection.
Japan, Korea
Japan's Sony, which relies on the U.S. for more than a quarter of its sales, dropped 2.6 percent to 5680 yen. Canon Inc., which relies on overseas sales for 70 percent of its revenue, lost 4.4 percent to 3920 yen.
Computer-related stocks were the biggest drag on the Topix index. NEC declined 3.7 percent to 1220 yen. The Topix shed 1 percent to 1042.87.
In Korea, the Kospi slid 13.18 to 618.84. The U.S. is Korea's largest trading partner, accounting for a fifth of total exports. The Kospi, the best performing index in the region this month, had rallied 15 percent from the start of November on optimism profits will improve next year. |
