Asian Shares: Nikkei hovers above 8,000, Hang Seng below 14,000 (dropping like a rock)

Market Watch ^ | 10/22/08 | V. Phani Kumar

[TigerLikesRooster]

Nikkei hovers above 8,000, Hang Seng below 14,000

By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch

Last update: 11:14 p.m. EDT Oct. 22, 2008

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian markets sold off Thursday on fears about the impact of a global recession, with South Korean and Japanese stocks plummeting as investors dumped shares across the board.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Average dropped to its lowest level in more than five years as exporters such as Mazda Motor Corp. and Nintendo Co. were hit hard by a rally in the yen and after steep losses on Wall Street overnight. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped below the psychologically-crucial 14,000-point level for the first time since July 8, 2005.

"Investors are shying away from equities and moving towards the bond markets. It's no longer a matter of where you're going to get growth from, it's more about how you're going to protect your capital," said Andrew Sullivan, a sales trader at Main First Securities in Hong Kong.

"You've just got investors getting very worried, with very strong and its' very difficult to exporters to see any growth going ahead," he added.

The Nikkei 225 Average dropped as low as 8,016.61, a 7.6% loss, during the session, a level it hasn't seen since May 2003, before recovering. It ended the morning session down 5.5% at 8,195.74, on top of a 6.8% plunge Wednesday, while the broader Topix index fell 4.8% to 846.32.

[TigerLikesRooster]

"The Correction" is gaining full speed. Welcome to Kontratief Winter.

Symbol	Name	Last Trade	Change	Related Info
^AORD	All Ordinaries	3,952.50 11:35PM ET	167.60 (4.07%)	Components, Chart, More
^SSEC	Shanghai Composite	1,854.06 11:05PM ET	41.76 (2.20%)	Chart, More
^HSI	Hang Seng	13,608.89 11:21PM ET	657.71 (4.61%)	Components, Chart, More
^BSESN	BSE 30	10,169.90 6:28AM ET	0.00 (0.00%)	Chart, More
^JKSE	Jakarta Composite	1,321.74 11:35PM ET	58.00 (4.20%)	Components, Chart, More
^KLSE	KLSE Composite	N/A	0.00 (0.00%)	Components, Chart, More
^N225	Nikkei 225	8,195.74 10:30PM ET	478.95 (5.52%)	Chart, More
^NZ50	NZSE 50	2,817.36 11:21PM ET	82.04 (2.83%)	Components, Chart, More
^STI	Straits Times	1,750.48 11:35PM ET	70.65 (3.88%)	Components, Chart, More
^KS11	Seoul Composite	1,039.80 11:36PM ET	94.79 (8.35%)	Components, Chart, More
^TWII	Taiwan Weighted	4,714.05 11:36PM ET	148.54 (3.05%)	Chart, More

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[SevenofNine]

It like disaster in Asia right now

Hey Tiger any word on health of Chia Pet the dude still alive

[FlingWingFlyer]

I wish a few “polls” would give us a break and show McCain back in the lead. If they don’t these things are going to hit bottom REALLY HARD pretty soon.

[CatOwner]

I don’t think the polls matter much. There are necessary adjustments to the markets.

[TigerLikesRooster]

No outward indication that he is dead. No important announcement from NK on Kim’s death or succession plan yet.

[ken21]

swine flu.

+

bird flu.

[SevenofNine]

So is like Arafat death story they not announced NOT YET

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

They all fear an Obama presidency — like many of us.

[AmericanInTokyo]

97 yen to the dollar. The US is going to be bargain basement for some big shoppers.
Man, the Nikkei is dropping like a stone.

[BurbankKarl]

I told everyone it wasnt over! Its not over til its over!

[Doofer]

97 yen to the dollar. The US is going to be bargain basement for some big shoppers.

I remember back in the mid 90's when the yen was going for something like 79 to the dollar if that makes you feel any better.

[djf]

Simple fact is, these bankers and Wall Street Lexus lovers took hundreds of billions of dollars of PROVABLE ASSETS, like 401(K)’s and high grade mortgages and WENT TO THE CASINO!!!

[blam]

So, how are the casino stocks doing?

[brityank]

[brityank]

Sorry; forgot the link for the page for the chart:

Major World Indices - Yahoo Finance ^

Select "Chart" on right for each one.

[Moonman62]

It's W-nomics spreading all over the world.

The Fed also did its damage by keeping the yield curve inverted for a very long time.

[bruinbirdman]

"97 yen to the dollar."

Everybody likes greenback and yen, not Nikkei or DJIA.

Boy, oh, boy. Cash sure is king.

The conundrum is, are all these trillions of cash infusions by central banks inflationary? When does that show up? Then cash is not king.

yitbos

[GATOR NAVY]

I was living there at the time. The worst was the hospital bill after our son was born. I was reimbursed later but I had to fork out the cash first and then turn in a claim. Ouch. The best was when we moved into base housing and got the deposit back for the apartment we moved out of. I had paid the deposit when the yen was about 135 to the dollar and got it back at about 90.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Yes, I do go there daily. We really have a nice vertical cliff at the right end, don't we? Followed by a couple of measly spikes.