Wednesday January 30, 10:59 AM
Asian stocks hit by U.S., Tokyo nears 4-month low
sg.news.yahoo.com
By Richard Baum
SINGAPORE, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Stocks slid across Asia in early trade on Wednesday after the U.S. market tumbled to its worst close in nearly three months, reeling from punctured confidence in corporate accounting after the Enron scandal.
But most markets fell by less than the 2.5-2.6 percent losses in the key U.S. share indices, and some analysts said investors were only locking in gains from the region's strong 2002 rally because a long Lunar New Year holiday was approaching.
"With the U.S. market showing signs of losing balance, it should depress foreign buying," said Hwang Chang-joong, head of research at LG Investment Securities Co in Seoul.
Tokyo stocks were dragged lower by blue-chip issues such as Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, sending the Nikkei share average below 10,000 for the first time since November 13. The index fell more than 1.5 percent to as low as 9,864.65, its weakest since October 1.
Hong Kong stocks were led lower by index heavyweights HSBC Holdings <0005.HK> and China Mobile <0941.HK>, taking the Hang Seng Index <.HSI> down 2.71 percent to 10,715.62. |
