By DPA
Tokyo : Tokyo stocks hit their lowest point in more than two years Monday and Hong Kong stocks saw their biggest one-day percentage fall since 2001 as fears over a looming US recession drove the market down nearly 5.5 percent.
Japanese investors remained sceptical over US President George W. Bush’s economic stimulus package and shed a wide variety of issues.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunged 535.35 points, or 3.86 percent, to close at 13,325.94.
The broader Topix index of all first-section issues fell 47.76 points, or 3.56 percent, to 1,293.74.
After Wall Street’s declines last week, Tokyo players expressed scepticism whether Bush’s stimulus package would be enough to pull the world’s largest economy out of recession.
The US president last Friday called for a package worth up to $150 billion of tax breaks and other measures for individuals and businesses.
Analysts said the stock plunges and instability of the US economy may lead the Bank of Japan’s policy board to leave the key interest rate unchanged at 0.5 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 1,383.01 points to close the day at 23,818.86, 5.49 percent lower than Monday’s closing figure. Turnover was 117 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Analysts said the Hang Seng Index along with other Asian markets was driven down by negative sentiment over Bush’s economic stimulus package announced in the US over the weekend.
Many people fear the package is inadequate and will do little to stop the slump in the US that an increasing number of experts now believe is inevitable.
In China, shares on the key Shanghai Composite Index, which reflects shares traded in both local and foreign currency, closed at 4,911.44, down 5.14 percent, or 269.07 points.
The Shanghai index closed Monday at its lowest value since Dec 19, after its biggest daily fall for six months.
India’s benchmark Sensex plunged 10.07 percent and recorded its biggest loss in several months amid selling pressure fuelled by weak global cues.
The 30-share Sensex, which has been recording a bear-run for the last five trading sessions, shed 1,915.26 points to 17,098.44 after mid-session.
Similarly, the wider 50-stock S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange, fell by 12.19 percent as it dropped by 695.75 points to 5009.55.
Shares also fell sharply on the Seoul stock exchange, with the benchmark Kospi index losing 51.16 points, or 3 percent, to close at 1,683.56.
Shares on the Singapore Exchange slumped 6 percent, with the Straits Times Index falling 187.10 points to 2,917.15.
Australian stocks fell in tandem with Asia, losing 2.9 percent on similar fears of a recession in the US.
The Australian market has fallen for 11 consecutive days – the longest losing streak in more than 20 years. It’s down almost 20 percent for its November high-water mark.