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Asian Shares Slide on Global Growth Fears
Asian shares start on a weak note as anticipation builds for a pause in global monetary-easing policies
By KENAN MACHADO
Updated Sept. 12, 2016 4:27 a.m. ET
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Asian shares started the week notably weaker as fears of a possible U.S. interest-rate increase gripped markets, with investors assessing the potential impact on growth.
“We are taking the selloff in the U.S. [on Friday] very, very seriously,” said Amir Anvarzadeh, global head of equity sales for Japan at BGC Partners. He said the equities weakness on both sides of the Pacific indicates a reversal in trend. “Whatever growth we are getting [globally] could slow down” if interest rates rise, Mr. Anvarzadeh added.
Emerging markets in Asia are particularly vulnerable to a rate increase in the U.S. as better returns there could prompt a flight of capital from less-developed areas. But some say strong growth and the potential for earnings to pick up faster in Asia will temper any sharp withdrawals.
After U.S. stocks on Friday posted the biggest declines since the initial post-Brexit drops, following a summer devoid of volatility in equities trading there, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 2.2% Monday and Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 1.2%—both finishing at their lowest levels in two months.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index skidded 3.3% to 23310.33, the biggest drop since February.
The Shanghai Composite shed 1.9%, finishing at a 1-month low and the Nikkei Stock Average ended down 1.7%. Korea’s Kospi, which notched its largest decline in two months Friday, topped that with a 2.3% decline. Samsung Electronics Co., which makes up one-sixth of the index, notched its biggest decline in 4 years, with a 7% slide on more worries about the Galaxy Note 7.
Easy monetary policies have propped up asset prices globally since the financial crisis nearly a decade ago. “Record capital outflows from Japan in recent months, if not years, oiled the wheels of global finance,” said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research at HSBC.
Alex Furber, a senior client services executive at CMC Markets in Singapore, adds: “U.S. stocks were overvalued and a correction there was due for some time.”
Monday’s weakness in Asian stocks was accompanied by sizable drops in commodities and pressured the equities of such companies. Three-month nickel futures fell 3.5% on the London Metal Exchange, while Brent oil was down some 1.5%, extending Friday afternoon’s slide in the U.S.
One bright spot Monday was Japanese life insurers, which gained on expectations that their investments abroad will yield higher returns. Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. rose 2.3% and T&D Holdings Inc. advanced 2.1%.
Also, the weaker rupee helped Indian outsourcing firms even as the S&P BSE Sensex was down 1.4%. Infosys Ltd. has gained 1.9%.
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