Recession specter haunts markets

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-28 07:02

Stock markets on the Chinese mainland Monday joined the free fall worldwide by hitting a new low in 25 months as fears of a global economic recession continued to spook investors.

A man looks at an intraday chart of the benchmark Hang Seng Index at the end of the trading at a brokerage in Hong Kong October 27, 2008. Hong Kong shares plunged 12 percent in their biggest single-day drop since 1997 on Monday, led by blue-chip heavyweight HSBC, as fears of a global recession hit Asian financial markets. [Agencies]

Sell-offs were the order of the day, with Hong Kong shares recording their biggest one-day fall in more than a decade and Tokyo's Nikkei ending at the lowest level in 26 years.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 6.32 percent, or 116.27 points, to close at 1723.35. The Shenzhen index slid 6.89 percent, or 424.14 points, to close at 5734.81.

Almost all sectors fell, with nearly 600 stocks dropping by the daily limit of 10 percent.

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Investors were increasingly worried about the impact of the global financial turmoil on the wider economy, analysts said.

"The dive in global stocks last Friday led to investor panic, which was exacerbated by the absence of a stimulus package from the government over the weekend," said Wu Feng, an analyst at TX Investment Consulting in Shanghai.

Despite recent measures to stimulate growth, including interest rate cuts and export tariff rebate increases, the market will not recover in the short term as investor confidence remains weak, said Huang Xuejun, an analyst at Everbright Securities.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index tumbled 1602.54 points, or 12.7 percent, to 11015 - its worst close since May 2004. The benchmark is off more than 50 percent this year.

"Markets are gripped by fear," said Benjamin Collett, head of hedge fund sales trading at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. "You actually feel sick watching this move."

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index closed down 6.4 percent to 7162.90 - the lowest since October 1982 - with exporters like Toyota Motor Corp and Sony Corp hit hard because of the surging yen.

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