Greenspan comments send Asian stocks in a tailspin

Greenspan comments send Asian stocks in a tailspin

2007-05-25



SHANGHAI, May 25 -- Asian stocks fell yesterday for the first time in four days after former US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that Chinese equities face a "dramatic contraction."


BHP Billiton Ltd and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co led declines on concern a slump in Chinese mainland shares would spread to other markets. The mainland's benchmark CSI 300 Index slid as much as two percent from a record after opening higher, Bloomberg News said.


China mainland "is another one of these classic hot and speculative markets that will end in tears," said Hugh Young, who oversees US$35 billion as managing director at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd in Singapore. "It's hard to be bullish about anything at the moment because everything has done so well."


BHP Billiton Ltd, the world's largest mining company, and rival Rio Tinto Group also dropped after a fall in metals prices. Shares of Japanese insurers declined after Sompo Japan Insurance Inc and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co reported lower profits.


The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index lost 0.2 percent to 149.56 in Tokyo, halting a three-day, 1.8 percent advance. The measure fell seven percent in the four days after Chinese mainland shares tumbled on February 27 by the most in 10 years, sparking a global rout that wiped out about US$3.3 trillion of stock-market value.


Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.1 percent to 17,697.0. Benchmarks fell elsewhere in the region, except in New Zealand, Pakistan and the Philippines. Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea were closed for holidays today.


BHP fell 1.2 percent to A$31 (US$25.47). Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's biggest maker of customized computer chips, lost 0.6 percent to NT$68.50 (US$2.05).