South Korea leads Asian markets lower


Investors are switching to gold due to uncertainty in the global markets

HONG KONG, China -- Asian markets sank to a lower close Monday as blue chips lost ground in the wake of U.S. stock losses last week.

South Korea took the biggest hit, with its main Kospi index plunging more than 3.5 percent after technology bellwether Samsung Electronics nosedived.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 finished the day down almost 0.8 percent, but bullion gains pushed gold shares higher.

Taiwan also finished lower after a slump in tech shares, with the Taiex down 1.6 percent.

Hong Kong's export-oriented shares slipped a little on disappointing economic data and Singapore was off about 1 percent heading towards the close.

Japan was closed for the Greenery Day national holiday, and will trade from Tuesday to Thursday before taking further breaks on Friday and next Monday.

On Friday, U.S. stocks slumped. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.24 percent to its lowest close since February, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 2.91 percent to reach October 2001 lows.

Seven-week low

South Korean stocks ended Monday at seven-week lows after blue chips lost ground.

The benchmark Kospi declined 3.58 percent, or 31.14 points, to 838.51, while the over-the-counter Kosdaq tumbled 4.01 percent to 73.70.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics plunged 4.8 percent to 381,000 won. Hynix Semiconductor was limit-down, off 155 won or 14.7 percent to 900 won.

Mobile phone leader SK Telecom dropped 4.8 percent to 244,500 won, but fixed-line telco KT Corp jumped 2.17 percent to 56,400 won ahead of its earnings release.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 26.3 points or 0.78 percent to 3352.8, as market confidence waned.

Leading telco Telstra Corp lost one cent to A$4.99 after the market digested the impact of the government's revamp of competition laws announced last week.

Media giant News Corp dropped 34 cents, or 2.7 percent, to A$12.32.

Resources leader BHP Billiton lost 1.68 percent to A$10.55, but gold shares bucked the downward trend, fuelled by a leap in gold prices.

Lihir Gold added 3.0 percent to A$1.36 and Newcrest Mining rose 9.3 cents to A$6.80.

Blue chips down

Taiwan stocks closed at a two-week low as technology shares took the brunt of a selloff. The Taiex ended 101.84 points, or 1.61 percent lower, at 6,205.09.

Chip foundry TSMC fell 3.26 percent to T$89.00. Rival UMC dropped 2.75 percent to T$53.00

UMC announced after the close that it made earnings per share of T$0.02 in the first quarter of 2002, far exceeding market expectations of a T$0.15 per share loss.

Memory chipmaker Winbond Electronics shed 4.58 percent at T$25.00, while Mosel Vitelic fell 3.93 percent at T$17.10.

In Singapore, the Straits Times index was down about 1 percent, or 16.81 points, at 1711.51 near the close.

Singapore Airlines fell 2.11 percent to S$13.90, while DBS Group lost 2.1 percent to S$13.70.

Chip manufacturer Chartered Semiconductor shed 2.6 percent to S$4.56 and Venture Manufacturing lost 1.2 percent to S$17.00.

In Hong Kong stocks ended the day slightly lower after initial heavy falls prompted by data showing consumer confidence weakened in the U.S.

The Hang Seng index went as low as 11,260 before closing at 11,361.49, a loss of 23.59 points or 0.21 percent.

Banking leader HSBC was slightly easier at HK$91.75 and China Mobile was off 1 percent to HK$24.90.

CITIC Pacific was unchanged at HK$16.40, while micro-motor maker Johnson Electric fell 0.87 percent to HK$11.40.