Asian stocks end mixed
Friday, 15 August 2008
TOKYO, Aug 14 (AP): Asian stock markets struggled to gain ground Thursday as concerns about the region's big economies continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
Chinese shares were mixed Thursday following the release of figures showing that growth in industrial output slowed in July from the year before. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.40 per cent to 2,437.08 -- a new 19-month low. The Shenzhen Composite Index edged up 0.20 per cent to 698.68.
The Chinese data reinforced worries over the potential for a broader economic slowdown, analysts said, noting that investors are still watching for market-boosting moves from the government.
"So far, nothing will change the situation because investors are expecting China's economy to slow in the next two years," said Xu Yan, a strategist at Shenyin Wanguo Securities, in Shanghai.
"Institutional investors have been cautious because they weren't fully convinced that the US economic slowdown would affect China. But now they get it," Xu said.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.51 per cent to 12,956.80, closing under the 13,000-level for the first time since August 5. Stock measures also lost ground India, Malaysia and New Zealand.
In Tokyo, confidence in the real estate sector crumbled a day after condominium developer Urban Corporation filed for bankruptcy protection in the largest corporate failure this year. Saddled with 255.8 billion yen (US$2.34 billion) in debt, the Hiroshima-based company is the latest casualty in the struggling property sector.
Major Japanese developer Mitsui Fudosan Company fell 2.37 per cent, Tokyu Land Corporation shed 4.29 per cent and Sumitomo Realty & Development Company retreated 1.41 per cent.
With lingering woes about a global economic slowdown and a murky domestic outlook, the collapse of Urban Corporation merely added to market anxieties, said Katsuhiko Kodama, senior strategist at Toyo Securities.
Japan reported a day earlier that gross domestic product contracted at a yearly pace of 2.40 per cent in the April-June period, bolstering views that the world's No. 2 economy might be sliding into recession.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has announced an emergency economic stimulus package to try to inject some life into the economy, but investors don't seem impressed, Kodama said.
"The market really hasn't responded," he said.
Chinese shares were mixed Thursday following the release of figures showing that growth in industrial output slowed in July from the year before. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.40 per cent to 2,437.08 -- a new 19-month low. The Shenzhen Composite Index edged up 0.20 per cent to 698.68.
The Chinese data reinforced worries over the potential for a broader economic slowdown, analysts said, noting that investors are still watching for market-boosting moves from the government.
"So far, nothing will change the situation because investors are expecting China's economy to slow in the next two years," said Xu Yan, a strategist at Shenyin Wanguo Securities, in Shanghai.
"Institutional investors have been cautious because they weren't fully convinced that the US economic slowdown would affect China. But now they get it," Xu said.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.51 per cent to 12,956.80, closing under the 13,000-level for the first time since August 5. Stock measures also lost ground India, Malaysia and New Zealand.
In Tokyo, confidence in the real estate sector crumbled a day after condominium developer Urban Corporation filed for bankruptcy protection in the largest corporate failure this year. Saddled with 255.8 billion yen (US$2.34 billion) in debt, the Hiroshima-based company is the latest casualty in the struggling property sector.
Major Japanese developer Mitsui Fudosan Company fell 2.37 per cent, Tokyu Land Corporation shed 4.29 per cent and Sumitomo Realty & Development Company retreated 1.41 per cent.
With lingering woes about a global economic slowdown and a murky domestic outlook, the collapse of Urban Corporation merely added to market anxieties, said Katsuhiko Kodama, senior strategist at Toyo Securities.
Japan reported a day earlier that gross domestic product contracted at a yearly pace of 2.40 per cent in the April-June period, bolstering views that the world's No. 2 economy might be sliding into recession.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has announced an emergency economic stimulus package to try to inject some life into the economy, but investors don't seem impressed, Kodama said.
"The market really hasn't responded," he said.