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SYDNEY.
ASIAN stocks suffered a second session of sharp losses yesterday, while the dollar struggled to make much headway after the US central bank chief signalled the recovery in the world’s biggest economy was still fragile.
European stocks, however, were expected to open slightly higher, according to financial bookmakers.
Worries about further interest rate hikes in China and whether authorities in emerging Asia can tackle inflation without derailing longer-term growth have prompted investors to lock in profits on some of last year’s best performing markets.
Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0,1 percent, while shares elsewhere in Asia slid 1,3 percent, wiping out this year’s gains to reach lows not seen since late December.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0,7 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI lost 1,8 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 1,2 percent.
Last year’s laggards like the Nikkei, however, remained well in the black for the year as investors rotated into some developed markets from emerging ones.
“It’s not like buying in Japanese stocks has completely stopped, but investors have been looking for a reason to take profits and now they are cautious about overheating in the market,” said Norikazu Kitta, strategist at Nikko Cordial Securities.
Despite the generally downbeat mood, there were patchy bright spots in the market. Among them, shares in Australian bourse operator ASX jumped 4,7 percent, while Singapore Exchange gained 0,7 percent.
Investors are hoping that merger news between major bourses like the NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse would boost prospects for Singapore Exchange’s US$7,9 billion takeover bid for ASX, which is facing political hurdles in Australia. — Reuters.