| TOKYO - Most Asian stocks fell sharply on | | | | |
| Monday, dragged down by heavy losses on Wall | | | | Benchmarks also rose in Hong Kong. The Hang |
| Street after a surprise drop in US payrolls | | | | Seng Index edged up 17.09 points, or 0.07 |
| sparking fears the world's largest economy | | | | percent, to close below the 24,000 level at |
| may be heading for recession, dealers said. | | | | 23,999.70 Monday. |
| | | | |
| Investors are now pinning their hopes on a US | | | | In Hong Kong most shares "were under selling |
| Federal Reserve interest rate cut to shield | | | | pressure after Wall Street's sharp falls last |
| the economy from the fallout from the housing | | | | Friday and on concerns over the health of the |
| slump, they added. | | | | US economy," said Kitty Chan, director at |
| | | | Celestial Asia Securities Holdings. |
| Asian stocks suffered a heavy selloff after | | | | |
| US and European markets were rattled by news | | | | "US employment has been growing for the past |
| that the US economy lost 4,000 payroll jobs | | | | four years so the fall was pretty scary," |
| in August, the first decline in four years | | | | said Hirokazu Fujiki, equity strategist at |
| and far below market expectations. | | | | Okasan Securities. |
| | | | |
| Adding to the jitters about the health of the | | | | "At the same time what is supporting stocks |
| global economy, Japan said its economy shrank | | | | is expectations for a cut to the Fed funds |
| by 0.3 percent in the three months. | | | | rate on September 18. Investors are waiting |
| | | | ahead of developments in the US. That's why |
| The Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed down | | | | there wasn't a shock selloff," he added. |
| 357.19 points or 2.2 percent at 15,764.97, | | | | |
| with exporter shares being particularly hard | | | | The Dow Jones index lost 1.9 percent Friday |
| hit. | | | | after markets took fright at the drop in |
| | | | payroll jobs in the US economy. |
| Elsewhere, Seoul gave up 2.6 percent as the | | | | |
| KOSPI index closed down 49.03 points to | | | | The report stoked fears of a US recession, |
| 1,835.87. Manila declined 1.6 percent while | | | | despite assurances from the Fed that the US |
| Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta both slid 1.4 | | | | economy was holding to a modest growth rate |
| percent. | | | | and that the slump in housing had been |
| | | | contained, dealers said. |
| However, Chinese stocks recovered from early | | | | |
| losses Monday. | | | | "The US employment data reinforced investor |
| | | | uncertainties about the future course of the |
| The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained | | | | US economy on top of ongoing worries about |
| 78.11 points, or 1.5 percent, to 5,355.29. | | | | subprime loans," said Katsuhiko Hiroshige, a |
| The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.5 percent | | | | market analyst at Traders & Co. |
| to 1,479.12. | | | | |
| | | | Investors hope that the US can avert a |
| "Volatility in the market will likely be high | | | | recession if the Fed acts swiftly and |
| on expectations another interest rate hike | | | | aggressively to lower borrowing costs, which |
| may happen in coming weeks following the | | | | could help ease the US housing crisis and the |
| August consumer price figures," said Chen | | | | US credit squeeze. The federal funds rate now |
| Huiqin, an analyst at Huatai Securities. | | | | stands at 5.25 percent. |