Asian stocks fall sharply in early trade; Nikkei sinks 3.6%
Published Aug 04, 2011 09:30PM ET
During early Asian trade, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index retreated 0.5% to 21,884.74, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 3.6% to 9,312.66, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 3.5% to 4,124.90, and South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 3.4% to 1,949.70.
Along with the Nikkei, the broader-based Topix Index of all issues listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange dived 3.2% to 826.65.
U.S. shares tumbled in Thursday trade, with the three major indexes suffering steep drops and the Dow Jones falling to its lowest point since December of 2008.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 4.3%, the Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 5.1%, its worst percentage loss since January 2009, and the S%P 500 gave up 4.8%, its worst percentage drop since February 2009.
Investors were expected to pay particularly close attention to jobless figures due out from the U.S. Labor Department on Friday for any additional signs of sluggishness in the U.S. economy.
Financials issues were among the worst performers in early trade, with Mizuho Financial Group Inc. sinking 3.93%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. giving up 3.3% and Australia’s Macquarie Group Ltd. plunging 7.8%
Despite intervention by the Bank of Japan Thursday to weaken the Japanese yen against its major counterparts, exporters in Tokyo came under heavy selling pressure.
The world’s largest automaker, Toyota Motor Corporation, fell 3.66%, Hitachi Ltd. gave up 3.2%, and Kyocera Corp, surrendered 3.6%.
South Korea’s Kia Motors Corp. was down sharply, 5.2% in early trade.
The outlook for European stocks was mixed. France’s CAC 40 futures was lower by 0.19% to 3,252.40, the FTSE 100 futures fell 0.04% to 5,277.60, while Germany’s DAX futures rose 0.17% to 6,296.90.
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Written By: Investing.com
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