Stocks In Asia-Pacific Region Fell Sharply Wednesday, with Tokyo And Hong Kong Losing Around 9 Percent, an Indication Of Somewhat Shattered Confidence Towards Worsening Global Financial Crisis.
Japan's Benchmark Nikkei 225 Index Shed 9.4 Percent To 9, 203.32, hitting A Five-year Low. It Was The Third-biggest Drop In The History Of Asia's Largest Bourse And The Largest Single-day Dive In More Than Two Decades.
As Tokyo Stocks Continued To Fall, the Bank Of Japan Pumped 2.1 Trillion Yen (about 20.57 Billion U.S. Dollars) Into The Money Market, its 16th Straight Day Of Intervention, but The Move Yielded Little Effect.
"Honestly, this For Us Is Beyond Our Imagination. We Have Huge Fears Going Ahead, "Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso Told A Parliament Committee.
Hong Kong's Benchmark Hang Seng Index Dropped 8.17 Percent To 15, 431.73, its Lowest Level In 28 Months. Turnover Was 77.78 Billion Hong Kong Dollars (about 9.97 Billion U.S. Dollars) .
The Plunge Came Despite Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Surprise Rate Cut Of 100 Basis Points Before The Opening Of The Market.
Other Major Stock Markets In The Asia-Pacific Region Also Underwent Significant Drop. Taiwan Share Prices Plunged By 5.76 Percent And Australia Market Tumbled By 4.9 Percent. In Indonesia, its Main Index Had Fallen 10.4 Percent To 1, 451.67 Points Before The Trading Was Suspended For The Day.
Stock Markets Across The Globe Have Been Plummeting In Recent Weeks Following The Collapse Of U.S. Investment Bank Lehman Brothers And The Government Bailout Of Insurance Giant AIG.
U.S. Lawmakers Passed A 700-billion-dollar Rescue Package For The U.S. Financial System Last Week, but It Still Failed To Boost The Sentiments Of Investors Worldwide.
SHATTERED CONFIDENCE
Fears Of Deepening World Economic Slowdown Have Greatly Discouraged Investors' Confidence, analysts Said, as Wednesday's Markets Were Predominated By Massive Selling With Seldom A Buyer In Sight.
"The Core Of The Issue Is Not Economic, it's About Confidence, "Commentator Shi Qiping Said In A Phoenix TV Interview.
"It Is A Very Rare And Truly Peculiar Situation Now, "He Said, adding That The Huge Cash Injected By Central Banks Had Been " Absorbed" And Seemed To Have Gone Nowhere.
The Waning Confidence Was Not Ungrounded. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Warned On Wednesday That The U.S. , at The Center Of An Intensifying Global Financial Storm, could Face An Economic Recession.
It Projected That The U.S. Economy Would Decline In The Final Quarter Of This Year And The First Quarter Of 2009, stabilize In The Second Quarter, and Then Embark On A Gradual Recovery.
The Economy Will Only Return To Potential Growth In 2010, the IMF Said, adding That "risks Around This Forecast Are To The Downside. Adding That "risks Around This Forecast Are To The Downside..
In Part Of An Act To Reassure The Jittery Investors, ministers From The 10-country Association Of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Said They Are Confident That Regional Banks And The Financial System Would Be Able To Weather The Global Credit Crunch.
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