World stock markets resumed their slide yesterday, with Japan’s Nikkei stock index falling to a 26-year low as government rescue measures failed to ease fears of a prolonged global recession.
Investors seemed loath to wade back into securities following last week’s sell-off, worried a stream of economic data from the US this week could bring more bearish news about the world’s largest economy and trigger another round of selling. Selling by investment managers, bracing for another wave of redemptions, also fed the declines, analysts said.
“We’re seeing a lot of panic selling,” said Peter Lai, investment manager at DBS Vickers in Hong Kong. “People are just liquidating ... Nobody can predict where the bottom is.”
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index, after trading higher in the morning, closed down 6.4 percent at 7,162.90 — the lowest since October 1982.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 12.7 percent to 11,015.84, its lowest close in more than four years.
European markets followed Asia lower, with benchmarks in Britain, Germany and France trading down more than 4 percent or more in early trading.
On Wall Street on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 312.3, or 3.59 percent, to 8,378.95. Early yesterday, stock index futures were down, signaling a lower open. Dow futures were down 268 points, or 3.2 percent, at 7,994. S&P futures were down about 4 percent.
The sharp declines yesterday came amid another round of government measures to boost markets. Australian and Hong Kong central bankers injected funds into their markets to ensure liquidity.
Thai Finance Minister Suchart Thadathamrongvej said in Bangkok yesterday that state-owned banks would lend about 90 billion baht (US$2.6 billion) to small businesses and farmers to support economic growth and ease tightening credit.
Only South Korea’s market managed to eke out gains, perhaps in part because of the big rate cut there. The benchmark Kospi ended 0.8 percent higher at 946.45.
In China, the benchmark index slumped to its lowest level in more than two years as investors reacted to dismal earnings reports. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 6.3 percent, or 116.27 points, to 1,723.35. It is now down about 72 percent from its peak about a year ago.
“The panic spread much faster than we expected. It’s as if everyone wants to be the fastest runner, with the best escape,” said Feng Yuming, an analyst for Oriental Securities in Shanghai.
In the Philippines, the key index plummeted 12.3 percent to 1,713.83 points, triggering a circuit-breaker that automatically halted trading for 15 minutes.
The biggest one-day drop since February last year was caused by “big fund players” withdrawing investments to get cash and meet redemptions at home, traders said.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS