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SINGAPORE: Singapore shares dropped 1.94 per cent in early trade Thursday, following a slew of dismal economic data abroad.
The blue chip Straits Times Index was down 34.17 points to 1,730.55 within the first half hour of trade. Some 152.7 million shares exchanged hands, with losers beating gainers 170 to 31.
Other Asian markets were also in the red on Thursday following an overnight drop on Wall Street and gloomy economic news.
Japanese share prices led the fall after official data revealed its core machinery orders, a leading index of corporate capital spending, plunged by a record 16.2 per cent in November from the previous month.
The benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 345.34 points or 4.09 per cent to 8,093.11 one hour into trading.
South Korean shares opened 3.7 per cent lower after a downgrade by Fitch ratings agency of automakers Hyundai and Kia. The KOSPI index began trading down 44.21 points at 1,138.47.
Elsewhere, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 3.27 per cent lower, or down 120.60 points to 3,566.40; New Zealand's NZSX-50 dropped 1.01 per cent to 2,758.55; and Taiwan's weighted index opened down 3.82 per cent, or 172.51 points to 4,348.96.
US stocks fell hard on Wednesday on dismal retail sales data and renewed concerns over the health of banks and other companies set to report quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 248.42 points (2.94 per cent) to end at 8,200.14, off its day's lows, extending a losing streak to a sixth session.
The Nasdaq composite tumbled 56.82 points (3.67 per cent) to 1,489.64 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 29.17 points (3.35 per cent) to 842.62.
- CNA/yb
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