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Asian stocks mostly down despite oil price retreat
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 03 - 09 - 2008


Asian shares were mostly lower
Wednesday, with China's benchmark index dropping to a
20-month low, although shares rebounded in Japan as
investors took heart from falling oil prices and chased
gains in the auto sector, reported ap.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.64 percent to 12,689.59
after losing nearly 2 percent the day before following the
surprise resignation of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
«Investors bought back shares as sentiment turned
positive on falling oil prices,» said Kazuhiro Takahashi,
a strategist at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd.
In Japan, top automaker Toyota Motor Corp. rose 2.1
percent, Nissan Motor Co. added 2.4 percent and Honda Motor
Co. jumped 5.1 percent.
Share prices also bounced back in South Korea, where the
KOSPI gained 1.4 percent after sinking to its lowest level
in over a year earlier in the week on worries over the
country's weakening currency.
In Thailand, the SET Index fell 1.4 percent to 649.93 amid
mounting political unrest a day after the prime minister
imposed emergency rule on the country.
Meanwhile across most of the region, weakening oil prices
reinforced fears that a weakening world economy will slow
global demand for raw materials.
Oil prices dropped as low as US$107.32 a barrel late
Wednesday afternoon in Asia.
China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.2
percent to 2,276.67, with most sectors except airlines
seeing moderate losses.
China Shenhua Energy, the country's biggest coal miner,
fell 5.6 percent, while Zhongjin Gold dropped 6.9 percent.
Financials and property firms also declined, with Poly
Real Estate Group Co. losing 2.3 percent and Shanghai
Pudong Development Bank off 4.4 percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 2.17 percent, to
20,585.06.
Ernie Hon, a strategist at ICEA Securities, said he
expected the Hong Kong market to remain bearish in the near
term as investors avoid stocks and turn instead to more
stable investments such as bonds.
«We have to wait until the U.S. recovers before the Hong
Kong market can rebound,» Hon said.
Among the worst hit was upstream oil producer CNOOC Ltd.,
which lost 6 percent, while PetroChina slid 3.2 percent and
Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chalco, tumbled 6.4 percent.
Ocean shipping company China COSCO Holdings fell 9.5
percent.
But Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd. jumped 164.3 percent, to
10.94 Hong Kong dollars after Coca-Cola Co. made a US$2.5
billion bid for the major juicemaker, offering to buy its
shares at almost triple their previous closing price.
Elsewhere in the region, Australia's S&P/ASX200 fell 1.1
percent, Jakarta's Composite index lost 2 percent and
Taiwan's benchmark lost 1.7 percent.
In currencies, the dollar was trading at 108.89 yen
Wednesday afternoon in Asia, up from 108.06 yen Tuesday,
while the euro was quoted at US$1.4415 from US$1.4518 late
Tuesday in New York.
Financial markets in India were closed for a national
holiday.


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