India stock market down 10%, halted -
Asian Stocks Slide, Led by Samsung Electronics; India Halted
May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks slumped after oil prices climbed to a 21-year high, threatening to slow global economic growth. Samsung Electronics Co. and Advantest Corp. led declines.
``A rise in oil prices would mean a profit squeeze for companies, which isn't good news,'' said Kiyohide Nagata, who helps manage about $3.2 billion at Invesco Asset Management (Japan) Ltd. in Tokyo.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks more than 850 stocks in the region, shed 2.3 percent to 81.25, its lowest since Nov. 25, at 1:53 p.m. in Tokyo. Except for New Zealand's NZSX 50 Index, all others in the region fell.
UFJ Holdings Inc. led declines among Japanese banks after the Yomiuri newspaper said the lender will report a full-year loss because of provisions for bad loans. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 2.8 percent to 10,548.10.
Taiwan's Taiex Index tumbled 5 percent after China warned President Chen Shui-bian three days before his inauguration for a second term that he must accept Chinese sovereignty or ``face destruction by playing with fire.''
Finance ministers and central bankers at an Asian Development Bank meeting in South Korea said higher oil prices and the prospect of higher interest rates are the biggest threats to the fastest Asian economic growth in four years.
India's Mumbai stock exchange halted trading for an hour after the Sensex slid 10.9 percent. The benchmark had dropped 6.1 percent Friday after the new government, led by Sonia Gandhi's Congress party, said it won't sell profitable state assets. |
