Euro-zone contagion woes sent shockwaves across Asian markets

18 Nov 2011 Evaluate

A slew of gloomy developments from the Euro-zone spooked already skittish sentiments in Asia, inciting an abrupt sell-off for yet another session that has sent most markets in the region tumbling well over a percent. The spike in Spanish government bond yields and mounting worries that the exacerbating Euro-zone debt trouble would bite into global economic growth dampened investors’ morale. Also mixed economic data from the US failed to offer any support to the markets in the region. On one hand, the initial jobless claims in US last week dropped to the lowest level in seven months, offering more signs of an improving job market, on other the manufacturing growth in the US Mid-Atlantic region slowed more than expected in November after the unexpected rise in October, reflecting the struggling economic recovery.

The benchmarks in China and Hong Kong got pounded by over one and half a percent after the banking regulator warned banks that bad loans to property developers may surge. Markets in South Korea got clobbered by close to percent on the back of hefty profit booking in refiners and shipyards as marketmen booked profits in cyclical sectors and sought out safer assets amid rising fears about global contagion from Europe's debt crisis.

Shanghai Composite plunged 34.66 points or 1.41% to 2,428.39, Hang Seng plummeted 340.00 points or 1.81% to 18,477.47, Jakarta Composite declined 29.69 points or 0.78% to 3,762.56, KLSE Composite shed 4.90 points or 0.33% to 1,460.57, Nikkei 225 sank 112.39 points or 1.33% to 8,367.24, Straits Times dived 27.72 points or 1.00% to 2,750.53, Seoul Composite shaved off 37.06 points or 1.97% to 1,839.61 and Taiwan Weighted slumped 111.36 points or 1.51% to 7,276.45.

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