Asian stocks fall on profit-taking

Asian stocks tumbled on Monday as dealers moved in to take profits from recent gains with little economic data giving any direction.
TOKYO: Down 0.95 percent. The Nikkei-225 fell 96.15 points to 10,039.67.
HONG KONG: Down 2.07 percent. The Hang Seng Index closed down 390.72 points at 18,498.96.
Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 2.5 percent to 92.50 dollars, Henderson Land fell 2.1 percent to 44.90, and Sino Land declined 3.9 percent to 12.50.
The three companies had racked up gains of 60 percent to 111 percent over the three months to Friday's close, against a 58 percent rise in the Hang Seng over the same period.
SYDNEY: Down 0.75 percent. The S&P/ASX200 closed down 30.5 points at 4,031.7.
SHANGHAI: Up 1.67 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was up 45.79 points to 2,789.55.
TAIPEI: Down 3.45 percent. The weighted index fell 222.67 points to 6,225.56.
Institutional investors continued unloading large-cap high-tech stocks, dealers said.
SEOUL: Down 1.13 percent. The KOSPI ended down 16.17 points at 1,412.42.
Dealers were spooked after North Korea at the weekend threatened to build more atom bombs following the imposition of UN sanctions after its recent nuclear tests.
SINGAPORE: Down 2.55 percent. The Straits Times Index (STI) lost 60.51 points to 2,316.56.
Singapore Airlines fell 26 cents to 12.72 dollars, Singapore Telecommunications lost six cents to 2.90 and Keppel Corp dropped 35 cents to 6.90.
KUALA LUMPUR: Up 0.1 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 1.02 points to 1,091.17.
BANGKOK: Down 2.65 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand composite index lost 16.63 points to close at 611.92.
JAKARTA: Down 1.01 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index lost 21.06 points to 2,069.87.
MANILA: Up 0.5 percent. The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index rose 14.05 points to close at 2,612.85.
MUMBAI: Down 2.38 percent. The 30-share Sensex fell 362.42 points to 14,875.52.
The index fell on weak global trends as investors took profits from a three-month rally in which prices have risen nearly 90 percent, dealers said.