Vietnam business and finance news - Intellasia News Services

Asia's markets took a battering yesterday on fears a US recession could run deep after another batch of miserable economic news from the world's biggest economy.

The region's markets were in turmoil as investors sold off stocks following an eight% overnight fall on Wall Street, which lost almost eight% as the world's biggest economy was officially said to be contracting.

A man looks at stock market prices on computer monitors inside a securities company in Taipei December 2, 2008. Asian equities slid on Tuesday after signs of a deepening global economic slump slammed stocks worldwide the previous day, driving benchmark U.S. Treasury yields to their lowest since the 1950s. (Reuters)

A 100 basis points interest rate cut in Australia and further economy-boosting measures announced in Japan were not enough to instill confidence in traders.

"We believe that last week's stock rally went too far and markets were ripe for a correction," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist at CFC Seymour in Hong Kong..

TOKYO: Japanese shares plunged 6.35%. The benchmark Nikkei-225 index plunged 533.53 points to finish at 7,863.69. The broader Topix index of all first section issues shed 40.35 points, or 4.88%, to end at 787.12.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed down 4.2%. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell 153 points to 3,528.2 while the broader All Ordinaries lost 145.6 points to 3,473.4.

SHANGHAI: Chinese shares closed down 0.26%. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, closed down 4.98 points at 1,889.64.

TAIPEI: Taiwan share prices closed 3.57% lower. The weighted index fell 161.45 points to 4,356.98.

SEOUL: South Korean shares closed 3.3% lower. The KOSPI index finished down 35.42 points at 1,023.20.

SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index closed at 1,639.18 after falling 51.05 points or 3.02%.

BANGKOK: Thai share prices closed 0.92% lower. The Stock Exchange of Thailand composite index fell 3.60 points to close at 387.32.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended 2.6% lower. The Jakarta Composite Index fell 31.77 points to 1,191.36.

MANILA: Philippine share prices closed 4.6% lower. The composite index closed down 91.70 points at 1,879.87.

MUMBAI: Indian shares fell 1.14%. The benchmark 30-share Sensex fell 100.63 points to 8,739.24 - near a three-year low.

VIETNAM: The Ho Chi Minh Stock Indexfell 7.26 points or 2.31% to close at 307.45. Hanoi's HASTC Index fell 0.49points 0.47% to finish the day at 103.48.