Asian markets fall on new worries

Asian stocks fell on Tuesday, following the global trend, on continued worries about the world economy.
The markets were hit by the latest weak economic data from the US, with exporters such as Honda Motor among the top losers.
US factory activity fell in November to a fresh 26-year low, while the National Bureau of Economic Research said the US entered a recession in December 2007.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 6.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 4.9%.
Stock markets in South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and Singapore also fell.
Shares in one of the biggest steelmakers in the world, JFE Holdings dropped 9.5% in Tokyo.
Oil companies also fell after crude prices dipped to a three-year low. Japanese oil explorer Inpex lost 10%.
European markets opened slightly down on Tuesday but turned positive by midday, with Britain’s FTSE up 1.1%, Germany’s Dax gaining 2.2% and France’s Cac rising 1%.
On Monday in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average index lost 7.7%, while the S&P 500 dived 8.9%. The Nasdaq index dropped almost 9%.
Confirmed fears
Analysts said the fall in Asian markets was due to fears of the US slowdown impacting on Asian exporters.
„The [US business cycle] committee’s recession statement confirmed what people have long suspected but were not sure of, and combined with the US factory data , which confirms the gravity of the ongoing recession, stoked worries about how much longer the world’s largest economy will be submerged in economic downturn,“ said Bae Sung-young at Hyundai Securities.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan announced a set of measures, including a new lending scheme, aimed at tackling the ongoing crisis.
Japan’s central bank will lend unlimited amounts of funds to banks, and will accept a wider range of corporate debt as collateral.
„The launch of the new lending scheme may help reinvigorate the securitised market, which had been the main source for corporate funding but stopped working properly due to the credit crisis,“ said Yasuhiko Onakado at Daiwa SB Investments.

BBC

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