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Market Report - Asia Falls; Dollar Flounders
Market Report - Asia Falls; Dollar Flounders
Asia shares fall across the board as the dollar stalls and China shares ZHANG: Asia stocks fell on Thursday with exporters such as Honda bruised by a fresh fall in the ailing U.S. dollar. Japan's benchmark Nikkei slid 3.3 percent (12,433), reversing gains earlier in the week. The U.S. dollar hit a 12-year low against the yen. It also hit a record low against the euro despite a central bank effort to pump money into the strained credit markets. In Japan, a stalemate continued over the next likely head of the nation's central bank. Lead candidate Toshiro Muto won the lower house parliamentary vote, but this did not clarify if he would be able to take the vacant position. Muto was rejected by the upper house on Wednesday, and opposition lawmakers have objected to Muto because of his past position in the Ministry of Finance, which they say could compromise the independence of the central bank. Japan's Cabinet Secretary General says there may be other candidates. [Nobutaka Machimura, Japanese Cabinet Secretary General]: "We have the option of re-nominating Muto for the post but of course we also have other options too. Right now all I can say is that Prime Minister Fukuda has yet to make a decision. " China shares were among the worst perfomers in the region. Worries persisted over possible further interest rate hikes to cool the nation's ballooning inflation. Sinopec was among the biggest losers. Sky high oil prices hurt the oil refiner, along with weak demand for China shares. The Shanghai index lost 2.4 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost a whopping 4.8 percent. It was a disappointing day for investors across the region. In a reversal from yesterday, the KOSPI, TAIEX and S&P/ASX200 all lost more than 2 percent.
YouTube | March 14, 2008
