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Asian markets fall
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 17 - 08 - 2007


Asian shares tumbled again Friday, with the
Tokyo benchmark nose-diving 5.4 percent, as the region
showed little sign of staging a recovery amid a global
sell-off over U.S. credit fears. European stocks,
meanwhile, were mixed in early trade, AP reported.
The dollar's decline that worsened earnings prospects for
Japanese companies added to the battering Tokyo's benchmark
has been taking in recent sessions, sending the Nikkei 225
index crashing 874.81 points, or 5.4 percent, to close at
15,273.68, its lowest close in a year.
Hong Kong's blue chip Hang Seng Index fell 1.4 percent ,
and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 3.2 percent
after dropping 6.9 percent the previous session.
In early European trade, Britain's FTSE is up 0.66
percent, France's CAC 40 index is up 0.39 percent and
Germany's DAX is down 0.05 percent.
Some Asian markets tried to buck the regional trend with
early bargain-hunting but quickly began falling as Tokyo's
slide deepened throughout the day. Japanese shares, already
weakened by the spreading U.S. loan crisis, were hit hard
again by a strengthening yen.
«The fear factor has overtaken people,» said Song Sen
Wun, regional economist at CIMB-GK Research Pte. Ltd.,
adding that people could realize that the fears are
overblown as quickly as Monday.
«Whether this is a case of blind panic remains to be
seen,» he said by telephone from Singapore.
Taiwan main stock benchmark fell 1.4 percent to a
three-month low at 8,090.29. The Philippine 30-company
stock index closed at a new low for the year, losing 2
percent to its lowest level since Dec. 27.
New Zealand's NZX-50 index shed 1.6 percent in a rush of
selling in the last hour of trading. Shares closed lower,
or were down in late trade, in Australia, China, India and
Singapore. Only in Thailand was a benchmark index up in
late trade.
Credit Suisse Chief Strategist Shinichi Ichikawa in Tokyo
said any bad news ahead, such as a bank abroad faltering,
could worsen the market jitters.
«The next couple of weeks will be a very tough time for
global financial markets,» he said.
Earlier Friday, Japan's central bank injected 1.2 trillion
yen (US$10.5 billion; ¤7.8 billion) into money markets _
the third injection this week and triple the amount it
injected the day before _ in a bid to curb rises in key
interest rates.
Central banks in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan
have injected tens of billions of dollars into money
markets since Aug. 9, when stocks tumbled because of
worries over U.S. subprime mortgage problems. So, far the
extra money, meant to ease concerns about a credit crunch,
has been unable to end the global sell-off.
In Japan, a further fall of the dollar against the yen led
stocks lower. A weak dollar hurts Japan's giant exporters
like Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. by reducing the
value of their overseas earnings when converted into yen. A
weak dollar also makes Japanese exports more expensive
abroad.
The dollar was trading at 112.66 yen late afternoon, down
from 113.11 yen late Thursday in New York. During the day
it dropped as low as 111.80, the lowest level since June
2006.
The Japanese yen has gained sharply this week as investors
buy the currency to pay back low-interest yen loans they
had used to invest in emerging markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average Thursday closed down just
16 points after falling more than 340 points during the
day, pulling off a dramatic late-session turnaround on
massive bargain-hunting.


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