20-03-2008
Asian stocks renew fall amid concerns over US
News by Adfero for Simply Business - independent providers of public liability insurance, business finance, landlord insurance, buy-to-let mortgages & commercial mortgages.
Shares in Asia have once again fallen during trading today (March 20th).
Following fresh concerns over the potential effect of a downturn in the US economy, shares in Australia and Hong Kong have fallen significantly, contrasting with earlier stock market momentum in Asia, spurred on by news of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
"The US is still the biggest contributor to global growth, so any slowdown will have implications for commodity prices," said Jason Teh, a representative at Investors Mutual in Sydney.
While Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 3.9 per cent lower at 08:00 GMT, it had earlier fallen by 4.4 per cent.
Overall, shares in Australia fell by three per cent.
Separately, in Singapore, gold and US crude oil prices also fell - while oil slid to $101.11 (£51.15) per barrel, the price of gold fell to $920.30 an ounce, a decline of more than two per cent.
However, the stock market in Japan has been closed today because of a public holiday.