graphic
News > International
Asia sees steep declines
October 13, 2000: 7:25 a.m. ET

Blue chips hit by oil price, earnings concerns; technology shares slide
graphic
graphic graphic
graphic
LONDON (CNNfn) - Most Asian markets slumped Friday as the previous day's sharp falls on Wall Street and skyrocketing oil prices sparked a broad sell-off in the region's shares.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average closed down 1.4 percent at 15,330.31, as blue chips mostly fell in step with their U.S. counterparts, although gains in several defensive stocks cushioned the index's decline. The Nikkei was down 4.2 percent from last Friday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 2.6 percent to end at 14,680.50, for a loss of 9.3 percent from the end of last week, when the market took Friday off for a holiday.

graphicSingapore's Straits Times index slipped 0.3 percent to 1,860.40, leaving it with a loss of 5.2 percent for the week.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, buying ¥107.80 in late trading in Tokyo, compared with ¥107.65 the previous day in New York.

In the U.S. Thursday, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average shed 3.6 percent to close at 10,034.58, its fifth-biggest point drop on record, under pressure from surging oil prices and persistent concerns about the sustainability of corporate earnings growth. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 3 percent to end at 3,070.68.

Escalating violence in the Middle East sent crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange above $36 a barrel Thursday, sparking fears that U.S. company profits would be further hurt since global competition makes it difficult to offset rising costs with higher prices. Brent crude was up 25 cents at $34.72 in early London trade Friday.

Tokyo stocks in reverse


On the Tokyo exchange, consumer-electronics market leader Sony fell 1 percent, chip and electronics manufacturer NEC fell 2.2 percent and Japan's biggest computer maker  Fujitsu lost 3.1 percent.

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone fell 2.8 percent after business daily newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun said Tokyo Electric Power would become a potential rival in providing high-speed Internet service.

Among carmakers, Toyota Motor slipped 1.8 percent, rival Mazda fell 4.5 percent and Honda lost 3.1 percent.

Nippon Shinpan, Japan's largest consumer credit card firm, dropped 17.3 percent after reports that its financial affiliate Inter-Lease would go into liquidation. Nippon Shinpan lowered its earnings forecast for the current year to reflect a loss of ¥136.4 billion ($1.3 billion) partly on loans to Inter-Lease. The failure of Inter-Lease, with some ¥800 billion in debts, would be Japan's sixth-biggest corporate bankruptcy.

Fuel cost concerns hit Japan Airlines, the country's largest carrier, which fell 6.4 percent.

Oil shares rose, with leading oil producer Arabian Oil surging 10 percent, while oil engineering firm JCG rose 6 percent.

"Investors are just taking shelter in those natural resources issues," said Hiroshi Sato, equities general manager at Cosmo Securities.

Telecom losses drag down Hong Kong


Technology and telecom stocks were hit hard in Hong Kong, with China Mobile, mainland China's biggest mobile-phone operator, sliding 5.2 percent.

graphicProperty developer Cheung Kong Holdings fell 1.9 percent while its affiliated telecom-to-property conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa lost 2 percent.

London-based international bank HSBC Holdings shed 1.9 percent.

PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer, bucked the downtrend to jump 1.8 percent, bolstered by the spike in oil prices.

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific tumbled 5.8 percent as investors factored in a rise in fuel costs.

Shares of Internet and telecom company PacificCentury CyberWorks were suspended ahead of an announcement of revised details of its planned alliance with Australia's biggest telecommunications carrier, Telstra. The companies said the new deal would reduce Telstra's cash payment to PCCW by about 1 billion Australian dollars ($530 million) and give the Australian firm more control over PCCW's mobile-phone assets.

Taipei govt supports market


The Taiwan Weighted index ended up 1.2 percent at 5,876.11 as the government stepped into the market, buying shares with cash from its 500 billion Taiwan dollar ($16 billion) fund. That lifted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, which earlier dropped as much as 7 percent, to close with a decline of just 0.1 percent. And United Microelectronics, after also plunging 7 percent earlier in the session - the limit for a price move within a single day -- ended unchanged from Thursday's close.

graphicSouth Korea's Kospi index closed down 1.9 percent at 524.6, paring steeper earlier losses. Samsung Electronics fell 3.5 percent and rival Hyundai Electronics Industries plunged 8.9 percent. Mobile phone operator SK Telecom rebounded to end up 0.4 percent.

In Sydney, Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down for the eighth consecutive session, falling 0.7 percent to 3,204.0.

Media and news firm News Corp.'s ordinary shares were down 2.8 percent while its preferred stock ended off 3.6 percent. Together, the shares account for about 13 percent of the index. The company's ADRs fell 4.3 percent on Wall Street on Thursday after investment bank Goldman Sachs lowered its estimate of News Corp.'s 2001 earnings per share.

The market's second-largest stock, Telstra, rose 1.7 percent after the revised PCCW deal was announced.

In other markets, Bangkok's SET index fell 0.2 percent and Jakarta's JSX index lost 0.1 percent.

Manila's PHS Composite index ended up 0.4 percent. Malaysian shares also rose, with the KLSE Composite index up 1.7 percent. Back to top

--from staff and wire reports

  RELATED STORIES

U.S. Market Report

European Markets Report

  RELATED SITES

Tokyo Stock Exchange

Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Singapore Stock Exchange

Sydney Stock Exchange

Currencies

Leading American Depository Receipts

World markets

Leading ADRs

S&P futures on Globex


Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney




graphic

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.