Asian stocks decline on US subprime concern
Thursday, 18 October 2007
SINGAPORE, Oct 17 (Bloomberg): Asian stocks fell after UBS AG cut its share-price estimates on Japanese banks and India said it will regulate foreign investment.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest publicly traded lender, dropped to a three-week low. ICICI Bank Ltd., India's second largest lender, led a slump in Indian shares.
``Investors who invest globally are reacting to the plunge in India and evening up accounts by selling off Japanese, Korean, and other Asian stocks,'' said Yoshihisa Okamoto, who helps manage $26 billion at Mizuho Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``Fears of a credit crunch stemming from the subprime-loan issue have been reigniting.''
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index lost 0.9 per cent to 165.20 at 7:44 p.m. in Tokyo. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.1 per cent while India's Sensitive Index pared earlier loses to close 1.8 per cent lower. Indonesia's benchmark rose to a record for a seventh straight day, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.2 per cent.
Posco, Asia's largest steelmaker by market value, slid on lower-than-expected profit. Sanyo Electric Co. fell after scrapping plans to sell its chip unit. PetroChina Co. gained after crude oil prices topped $88 a barrel for the first time.
Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest US bank on the west coast, was the third-biggest contributor to the S&P 500 Index's 0.7 per cent decline yesterday. The company said net credit losses totaled $892 million in the third quarter and that weak housing prices and tighter credit will reduce fourth-quarter earnings.
Mitsubishi UFJ slid 4 per cent to 1,017 yen, its lowest since Sept. 21. Macquarie Bank Ltd., Australia's biggest investment bank, fell 0.9 per cent to A$83.96. DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Singapore's largest bank, lost 0.9 per cent to S$22. An investment vehicle DBS manages was forced in August to seek funding because of defaults on US subprime mortgages.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest publicly traded lender, dropped to a three-week low. ICICI Bank Ltd., India's second largest lender, led a slump in Indian shares.
``Investors who invest globally are reacting to the plunge in India and evening up accounts by selling off Japanese, Korean, and other Asian stocks,'' said Yoshihisa Okamoto, who helps manage $26 billion at Mizuho Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``Fears of a credit crunch stemming from the subprime-loan issue have been reigniting.''
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index lost 0.9 per cent to 165.20 at 7:44 p.m. in Tokyo. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.1 per cent while India's Sensitive Index pared earlier loses to close 1.8 per cent lower. Indonesia's benchmark rose to a record for a seventh straight day, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.2 per cent.
Posco, Asia's largest steelmaker by market value, slid on lower-than-expected profit. Sanyo Electric Co. fell after scrapping plans to sell its chip unit. PetroChina Co. gained after crude oil prices topped $88 a barrel for the first time.
Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest US bank on the west coast, was the third-biggest contributor to the S&P 500 Index's 0.7 per cent decline yesterday. The company said net credit losses totaled $892 million in the third quarter and that weak housing prices and tighter credit will reduce fourth-quarter earnings.
Mitsubishi UFJ slid 4 per cent to 1,017 yen, its lowest since Sept. 21. Macquarie Bank Ltd., Australia's biggest investment bank, fell 0.9 per cent to A$83.96. DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Singapore's largest bank, lost 0.9 per cent to S$22. An investment vehicle DBS manages was forced in August to seek funding because of defaults on US subprime mortgages.