Asian stocks plummet
Asian shares tumbled Thursday as the US government abandoned moves to buy up billions of dollars in toxic mortgage debt at the centre of the global credit crisis and amid global recession fears.
Regional markets fell for a third straight day, taking their cue from Wall Street after US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced his change of tack Wednesday on how best to implement the 700 billion dollar bailout plan.
He said the plan would be refocused on continued capital injections for ailing banks and possible steps to help the non-bank financial sector, such as car loans and credit cards.
Tokyo plunged 5.1 percent, Hong Kong lost 5.1 percent and Sydney tumbled almost six percent as traders' fears for the global economy grew more acute. Wall Street was 4.73 percent down overnight.
Japanese exporters were hit by a stronger yen, which is bad for their earnings, with the dollar sharply lower at 95.79 yen.
A profit warning from the biggest US consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy, hit confidence and Intel Corp., the world's biggest computer chip maker, cut fourth-quarter revenue projections, saying the economic slowdown would hurt business across the board.
Washington's U-turn on the financial bailout plan "also came out of the blue, discouraging investors," said Motoki Ichikawa, investment information chief at SMBC Friend Securities.
As turnover remained low, markets around the region were hit hard, with Seoul losing 3.15 percent, Taipei shedding 3.85 percent and Singapore 1.60 percent.
However, Shanghai bucked the trend adding 3.68 percent after Beijing announced a raft of new export tax rebates in a bid to kickstart its slowing economy.
This was despite Beijing reporting a sharp slowdown in industrial production growth -- the latest sign that the Asian economic powerhouse is losing steam.
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