US fears spike big export guns

ASIAN markets were accentuating the negative, and fell by up to 2.5% as investors worried about a drop in US consumer confidence and ignored positive signs of GDP growth in the first quarter.

Most regional markets continued to backtrack from strong performances so far this year, as concerns that the US recovery may be a flash in the pan called into question the outlook for exports.

With Japan's markets closed for a public holiday, attention centred on South Korea and Taiwan, both heavily dependent on US custom for electronics and cars. In both markets, news of a 5.8% gain in first-quarter GDP in the US was overshadowed by sharp falls in New York, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3% last week and the technologyheavy Nasdaq fell 7%.

On Friday both markets were in retreat as corporate earnings remained lacklustre, and the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index fell to a three-month low in April, suggesting weak demand for imports.

The South Korean Kospi index tumbled 21.92 points to 847.73, as microchip giant Samsung Electronics dived more than 2%. The falls were not cushioned by latest output figures showing that growth in South Korean factories reached a two-year peak last month. The biggest loser was Hynix Semiconductor, which plunged 15% as small investors dumped stock ahead of a proposed asset sale to the US Micron group which is expected to require massive write-offs, diluting the value of the company's stock.

Chip stocks were also deep-fried in Taiwan, on fears of slowing demand and further falls in the price of D-Ram products, which have lost almost 10% in one month. The Weighted Average slid 124.55 points to 6182.38, led down by a 7% fall in the price of Macronix International, which revealed that it had slumped into losses in the first quarter.

Singapore technology stocks added to recent weakness among blue-chips to pull the Straits Times index down 15.05 points to 1713.27. Creative Technology, which dominates the personal computer sound cards market, led the fall with a drop of almost 2%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 23.6 points to 11,361.5. Shares in China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, known as Sinopec and Asia's largest refiner, dived eight cents to HK$1.24 after profits dived a shocking 86% in the first quarter.

Strong gold shares helped prop up the All Ordinaries index in Sydney, despite pressure from News Corporation and profit-taking in bank shares. The index rose 23.6 to 3352.8.

Smaller Asian markets continued to backtrack after startlingly good performances so far this year. Indonesian stocks, which have risen more than 50%, lost almost 2%, the Jakarta Composite index dropping 7.78 points to 532.18. In Malaysia the Kuala Lumpur Composite index fell 9.56 points to 791.81. Thailand's SET index retreated 4.66 points to 371.78.

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