Stocks dive on huge sell-offs

Asian stocks slumped yesterday Tuesday March 15 with Tokyo shedding more than 10 percent as Japan’s nuclear crisis deepened after two more blasts and a fire at an atomic power plant.



As rescue workers continued to search for survivors from last Friday’s deadly earthquake and tsunami, eyes were on the troubled Fukushima No.1 complex where four reactors have now suffered explosions.



The crisis has led to a huge stock sell-off, with Japanese giants such as Sony and Toyota hit after they were forced to halt production in the country, while shares in nuclear plant operator Tepco lost almost 25 percent after Monday’s near 24 percent plunge.



TOKYO slumped 14.17 percent at one point before late buying pared some losses. The Nikkei index ended down 10.55 percent, or 1,015.34 points, at 8,605.15, its heaviest loss since the fall of Lehman Brothers in late 2008, and followed Monday’s loss of 6.18 percent.

A screen shows the Hang Seng Index at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Tuesday, March 15, 2011 as Hong Kong’s key index slumped 3.8 percent to 22,449.60. Japan’s Nikkei stock index nose-dived more than 12 percent Tuesday as the earthquake-shattered country faced an unfolding nuclear crisis after a radiation leak was detected at a crippled power plant. Other Asian markets also tumbled. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

HONG KONG fell 2.86 percent, or 667.63 points, to close at 22,678.25 while SHANGHAI lost 1.41 percent, or 41.37 points, to end at 2,896.26 SYDNEY plunged 2.11 percent, or 97.7 points, to 4,528.7 and SEOUL shed 2.40 percent, or 47.31 points, to 1,932.92.



“What the world is watching right now is whether Tepco’s Fukushima nuclear power plant is going to turn into Chernobyl,” said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, referring to the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.



HONG KONG: Shares fell 2.86 percent yesterday as Japan’s nuclear crisis deepened following two more explosions at a crippled power plant northeast of Tokyo.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 667.63 points to end at 22,678.25 on turnover of HK$109.26 billion. All the index’s 45 constituents fell yesterday.

Chinese insurer Ping An dropped 6.1 percent to HK$76.70 and China Life was down 3.3 percent at HK$29.05.



SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index dropped 2.80 percent, or 84.78 points, to close at 2,946.08.



CapitaLand Ltd said it sold its entire 50 percent indirect stake in Beijing Red Diamond Science & Technology Development Ltd for a cash consideration of 114 million yuan. The shares fell 4 percent to S$3.13.



Singapore Telecom fell 1.7 percent to S$2.90, Neptune Orient Lines tumbled 4.95 percent to S$1.92 and Singapore Airlines lost 3.96 percent to S$13.10



KUALA LAMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia tumbled across the board in tune with the regional stock markets’ follow-through weaknesses yesterday. Its declining counters outpaced advancing counters by 812 to 126.

The FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM-KLCI) fell from its intra-day high of 1,494.89 to its intra-day low of 1,476.24 yesterday. It closed at 1,484.14 points, recording a day-on-day loss of 11.21 points, or 0.75 percent.



In other markets:



* Taipei fell 3.35 percent, or 285.24 points, to 8,234.78.

The index was at its lowest level since October 22.



* Jakarta lost 1.27 percent, or 45.35 points to end at 3,524.48.

Carmaker Astra International shed 0.8 percent to 54,950 rupiah, while coal producer Bumi Resources lost 0.8 percent to 3,025 rupiah.



* Manila closed down 0.57 percent, or 22.39 points, at 3,896.31.



* Wellington slipped 1.40 percent, or 47.06 points, to 3,314.14.



* Bangkok fell 1.93 percent, or 19.79 points, to 1,003.10.

Banpu lost 6.00 baht to 744.00, while PTT fell 11.00 baht to 338.00.



* Mumbai fell 1.47 percent, or 271.84 points, to 18,167.64.



VIETNAM: The index of Hochiminh Stock Exchange (STC) continued to fall strongly 11.16 points or 2.33 percent to 468.74 pts.

The total trading volume including matching order trade and negotiation transactions reached over 37.6 million shares valued at 812.75 billion dong.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX Index also slipped 0.88 points or 0.96 percent to 91.04 pts. The total market trade reached over 28.5 million shares for 426 billion dong.



EUROPE: European shares fell yesterday to their lowest level since early December in response to investor nervousness over the situation in Japan, which is facing a potential nuclear radiation catastrophe.



By 1222 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 3.3 percent at 1,072.91 points – its lowest since December 1 2010.



Some US$247 billion was wiped off the value of indexes of major European stock markets, more than the GDP of Finland according to IMF data, as investors shifted into safe-haven government bonds such as US Treasuries.



Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 2.4 percent, Germany’s DAX fell 4.5 percent and France’s CAC 40 was down 3.7 percent.



AMERICA: Stocks plunged Tuesday and bond prices rose as the nuclear crisis in Japan intensified following a deadly earthquake and tsunami. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 300 as trading opened.



The market had regained some ground by the end of the day. The Dow closed down 137.74 points, or 1.15%, at 11,855.42.



Chicago-area blue chips fell along with the index. Boeing Co. dropped 1.5% to end at $69.69; Kraft Foods Inc. lost nearly 1% to close at $31.13; Caterpillar Inc. fell 1.3% to $100.75, and McDonald’s Corp. was off 0.7% at $75.12.



The Crain’s Index of local stocks, complied by Bloomberg L.P., was down 0.8%, or 0.93 points, to finish at 107.92.



The market dropped sharply at the start of trading on news that dangerous levels of radiation are leaking from a crippled nuclear plant. Investors are selling because of uncertainty about the impact the nuclear crisis might have not only on Japan, but also on companies in this country. Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, accounts for 10% of U.S. exports.



Intel Corp., National Semiconductor Corp. and other chip makers were among the biggest losers. Many technology companies are dependent on Japanese factories for their products or components. Insurance companies that do business in Japan, like Aflac Inc., also fell sharply.



Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners, said fear had taken hold in the market.



“It’s a situation where you sell, and you ask questions later,” he said.



Energy stocks also fell as the price of oil dropped below $100 a barrel. Crude was down $2.04 at $99.15 a barrel as analysts anticipated lower demand because of the earthquake. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. were each down about 1 percent.



Among insurers, Aflac was down 5%. The health and life insurance company does about 75% of its business in Japan, but said it was well prepared to handle claims in the country. Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., which also has operations in Japan, fell 4%.



Stocks have been fluctuating sharply since the quake on Thursday. The Dow fell 228 points Thursday, and came back 59 Friday. The market has a long history of bouncing back after a big drop. But an extended period of volatility is likely until the situation in Japan becomes clear.



Investors sought the relative safety of U.S. Treasurys, sending prices higher and yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 3.23% from 3.36% late Monday. Treasury prices soared during stocks’ long drop during the financial crisis. They have fallen as stocks recovered, but events like the Japanese quake and tsunami send investors in search of safer places to put their cash.

Benchmark Currency Rates

        USD     EUR     JPY     GBP     CHF     CAD     AUD     HKD

HKD     7.7945  10.8934 0.0961  12.5300 8.4815  7.9278  7.7519  -

AUD     1.0055  1.4053  0.0124  1.6164  1.0941  1.0227  -       0.1290

CAD     0.9832  1.3741  0.0121  1.5805  1.0698  -       0.9778  0.1261

CHF     0.9190  1.2844  0.0113  1.4773  -       0.9347  0.9140  0.1179

GBP     0.6221  0.8694  0.0077  -       0.6769  0.6327  0.6187  0.0798

JPY     81.0960 113.338 -       130.366 88.2437 82.4825 80.6532 10.4043

EUR     0.7155  -       0.0088  1.1502  0.7786  0.7278  0.7116  0.0918

USD     -       1.3976  0.0123  1.6076  1.0881  1.0171  0.9945  0.1283

                                                              Bloomberg

Tags: Vietnam business news

Posted by VBN on Mar 16 2011. Filed under Enterprises. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry