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Asian markets tumble on high-tech sell-off |
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September 23, 2000
HONG KONG, SEPT 22 (AP) - Stock prices in throughout Asia slumped Friday as investors, taking cues from an overnight decline in the Nasdaq in New York, unloaded high-tech shares. In Seoul, the Korean Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, plunged 7.17 percent, or 46.19 points to 553.25. Share prices in Taiwan, Singapore and Tokyo were also sharply lower. Losses in Seoul were led by blue chip electronics firms, with Samsung Electronics falling 11.1 percent and Hyundai Electronics sinking 6.3 percent in heavy foreign selling. Overnight, the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 68.57 to 3,828.87 and the Standard and Poor's 500 was down 2.29 at 1,449.05 as investors dumped stocks of companies warning of disappointing profits. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 77.60 at 10,765.52. Sentiment in Asia was darkened by an announcement by Intel, the world's largest chip maker, Thursday that it expects third-quarter revenues to fall far short of earlier expectations - news that investors viewed as an omen for the high-tech sector. Intel shares fell around 18.5 percent to dlrs 50.13 after the New York close. Selling snowballed in the region as investors reacted to forecasts of weaker demand in Europe for high-tech products, as well as higher oil prices. Semiconductor shares were hardest hit. Taiwan's bellwether Weighted Price Index plunged 308.81 points, or 4.5 percent, to close at 6,612.09, the lowest level in 18 months. "If the Nasdaq continues to fall Friday, we don't rule out the main index sliding below 6,500 points next Monday," said Watchman Chang, assistant vice president of Jih Sun Securities Corp. Most of the island's integrated circuit and memory chip makers ended trading at the 7 percent maximum limit that prices can drop in any one day, while the technology sector as a whole fell 6 percent. The high-tech industry is a vital part of Taiwan's economy. The island is the world's third-biggest maker of computer-related equipment and the fourth-biggest manufacturer of semiconductors. Electronics account for more than 30 percent of total market capitalization and more than 80 percent of daily trading volume. Technology and telecoms shares were sold as Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 551.6 points, or 3.6 percent, to close at 14,611.44, extending a 3.2 percent loss on Thursday triggered by a sell off of shares in the fledgling Internet group Pacific Century CyberWorks. The market has lost roughly 10 percent of its value in the past week. In Tokyo, Asia's largest market, high-tech shares such as Fujitsu and Kyocera led the decline in the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, which shed 492.80 points, or 3.02 percent to end the week at 15,818.25. The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the first section dropped 46.78 points, or 3.1 percent, to 1,466.93. The TOPIX closed up 6.94 points, or 0.46 percent, the day before. The dollar bought 106.90 yen at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT), up 0.20 yen from late Thursday in Tokyo and also above its late New York level of 106.67 yen overnight. In Singapore, prices dropped for the 14th straight trading session Thursday as the Straits Times Index fell 22.34 points, or 3.18 percent, to 1,925.57. Elsewhere: JAKARTA: Declines on regional markets and fears over escalating violence helped push Indonesian shares lower, with the JSX Composite Index slipping 9.18 points, or 2.2 percent, to 408.49 by mid-afternoon. MANILA: Unable to sustain early gains, shares closed lower Friday with investors bearish over the continued weakness of the peso and rising world crude prices. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index ended down 2.08 points, or 0.1 percent, at 1420.61. SYDNEY: With investors spooked by the broad decline in regional markets, prices tumbled to a five-month low. The All Ordinaries Index of share prices ended down 1.9 percent, or 61.4 points, at 3143.5. |