| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
HONG KONG: Asian shares ended mixed Tuesday as they clawed back heavy morning losses on optimism for a round of interest rate cuts following a slash in the official figure in Australia.
Regional markets plummeted early on after overnight losses in Wall Street and Europe, but Australia's central bank provided a rare dose of positive news, sparking hopes policymakers in other countries could follow suit.
Tokyo briefly tumbled five per cent, dropping below 10,000 points for the first time in more than four years on fears that government efforts to end the crisis may be too little, too late.
The Nikkei finally closed 3.01 per cent down. Other markets that started the day on a low also eased back on the news from Australia, where the Sydney bourse finished 1.7 per cent higher after opening more than 3 per cent down.
The larger-than-expected one per cent rate cut was the biggest in Australia since 1992.
Seoul, Singapore and Taipei, which also opened lower, managed to end the day in positive territory. Shanghai was 0.73 per cent off while Hong Kong was closed for a public holiday.
Dealers were taking the lead from Wall Street, where overnight the Dow Jones fell as much as 800 points during the session, slipping below the key psychological level of 10,000 for the first time since 2004.
But it pulled back, closing down 369.35 points, or 3.58 per cent, at 9,955.50.
In Tokyo, hopes for an interest rate cut were dashed when the central bank said it would hold its figure at 0.5 per cent. Its governor later played down any moves for a co-ordinated cut between nations to help ease the financial crisis.
The bank did, however, pump an extra one trillion yen (9.7 billion dollars) into the market for the 15th straight business day in a bid to keep liquidity.
The rollercoaster markets were also reflected in the price of oil, with crude hanging below the 90 dollar mark as stocks fell, before lifting later.
In late afternoon trade New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, rose 3.25 dollars to 91.06 dollars after a plunge of 6.07 dollars to 87.81 at the close of floor trading on Monday in New York.
World markets have been erratic over the past few days despite lawmakers in Washington giving the green light to a 700-billion-dollar rescue package for the US financial system.
The crisis earlier this week began to take hold in Europe, where EU ministers were forced into a special session to find a way out of the mess.
In other Asian markets, Manila ended three per cent down, Jakarta was 1.8 per cent off after the government hiked interest rates to fight inflation, while Kuala Lumpur was flat. Bangkok ended 4.18 per cent lower and Wellington was 1.45 per cent down.
In late afternoon trade Mumbai was 1.34 per cent down.
- AFP/yt
|
