VARIOUS: Asian stocks fall across the board following previous week's slide on Wall Street over concerns about the U.S. economy
- 00:00:06
- ITN Source
VARIOUS: Asian stocks fall across the board following previous week's slide on Wall Street over concerns about the U.S. economy
Asian stocks fall across the board following a slide on Wall Street last week on concerns about the U.S. economy. The dollar slumped to a record low and Asian stocks suffered their biggest fall in two months on Monday (October 22) after weak U.S. corporate results renewed concerns about a housing market slump damaging the world's largest economy. Traders said shares took their cue from Wall Street, which notched up its biggest fall in two months on Friday, a slide made more unnerving as it marked the 20th anniversary of 'Black Monday', the 1987 stock market crash. Tokyo's Nikkei fell 2.2 percent to a four-week closing low and the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended down 3.7 percent. Exporters bore the brunt of the selloff, hurt by the double-whammy of a weaker dollar and growing worries about the health of the U.S. economy, as the falling dollar makes exports from Asia relatively more expensive and lowers the value of overseas sales, factors that further undermined some of the region's major exporters. Yet experts said Asia's growth and flow of capital would continue despite U.S. economic woes. "Asia is the region of the world which is growing the fastest and this attracts capital here and there is so much capital around that is seeking a new home, they will come where opportunity is the best which is here in Asia and that's why I would be putting money right here," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment analyst of CFC Seymour Limited. Seoul shares also slumped 3.3 percent, dipping to their lowest in more than a month. More than 90 percent of the companies listed on South Korea's main market dropped, yet senior analyst at Investment Strategy Department of Daeshin Securities in Seoul said the dip would hopefully be temporary. "However, South Korean shares are based on sound industrial performances. So we are interested in whether the stock index can stay around 1,850s or not," said Kwak. Its benchmark KOSPI index ended at 1903.81 points. Exporters such as Hyundai Motor and second-ranked Kia Motors fell amid worries about the U.S. economy, South Korea's second-biggest overseas market, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world's top maker of memory chips and large liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, also dropped 2.96 percent.
ITN Source | October 22, 2007
