US consumer blow for Asian investors

AMERICAN consumers were on strike last month, and investors in Asia came out in sympathy today.

The 3.7% fall in retail sales in November, the biggest drop in 10 years, sent tremors through the stocks of Asian companies dependent on demand from US consumers.

The fragile belief that the US economy was heading back up has also been undermined by a week of falls on Wall Street, which took prices down to a one-month low and raised concerns that the post-11 September rally had left Asian markets overstretched. Technology stocks, which have led Asia's bull run, were again among the biggest casualties.

Lucent Technology shares tumbled after a profit warning.

The tech gloom was lightened in Tokyo by the continuing fall in the yen, which went below 127 to the US dollar to a three-year low, boosting earnings prospects. This left technology shares mixed as orders for chip-making equipment fell to an eight-year low, and in volatile trading the Nikkei 225 Average rose 78.2 points to close at 10,511.65.

The recent rout in Japanese bank stocks continued as the fears over bad debts grew, sending prices of some lenders down to record lows. Mizuho Holdings, the world's largest bank, lost a further 3% in value, while UJF Holdings, another of the Big Four, was down almost 6%.

The carnage among smaller players was worse. Ashahi Bank and its future partner Daiwa both lost more than 13% as institutional investors dumped shares amid talk of the need for another government rescue. Brewer Kirin frothed up almost 3% after agreeing to pay 60 billion yen (£30 million), for a 15% stake in the Philippines' San Miguel beer giant.

Hong Kong companies with exposure to the US market dragged the Hang Seng index down 158.84 points to 11,370.7. HSBC Holdings remained on the downward path, off 50 cents at HK$93. Textiles trader Li & Fung and electro-motor maker Johnson Electric both extended recent heavy falls.

Mainland oil stocks were lifted by a broker's report that Royal Dutch/Shell will lead a party of investors in a pipeline being laid by PetroChina.

Deepening gloom about the prospects for South Korea's big exporters hurt both electronics and motor stocks, adding to technical weakness caused by the expiry of futures contracts, and the Kospi index dipped 10.05 points to

666.54. Taiwan resumed its recent Teflon-coated performance, and as investors shrugged off worries about the US economy and moved back in on hi- tech shares, the Weighted Average bounced up 79.19 points to 5486.73.

Sydney stocks paused for breath after two months of solid gains, as News Corporation fell almost 2% on US earningsfears. The All Ordinaries index drooped 21.3 points to 3237.7. Nervousness about global demand hurt mining stocks, and gold digger Normandy Mining fell by 1% after its rejection of the latest offer from the South African AngloGold group.

Singapore's Straits Times index tumbled by 25.01 points to 1544.72, as technology followed Nasdaq's overnight falls. Malaysian stocks responded to the major corporate debt restructuring moves with a rise of 1.23 points to 663.24 in the Kuala Lumpur Composite, while an easing of Thai shares took the SET index down 2.81 points to 291.8. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite added 1.84 points to 374.69.

Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed in the tables.