Asia shares fall on lingering China growth worries
Associated Press, Tokyo | Fri, 01/21/2011 9:05 AM
Asian shares fell in early trading Friday, dragged
again by concerns that China might take steps to cool its economic
growth.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average lost 0.9 percent to 10,344.43,
and South Korea's Kospi shed 1 percent to 2,086.34.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.8 percent to 4,747.30.
Resource-related companies, which rely heavily on Chinese demand,
fell sharply.
Stock markets from Shanghai to London to New York fell Thursday
after China reported that its economy grew by 9.8 percent in the
fourth quarter and that inflation remained stubbornly high. The
numbers triggered worries that the world's second-largest economy -
and the main driver of global economic growth in recent years -
would force itself to slow down to control prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.49 points, or less than
0.1 percent, to 11,822.8. The negative mood was tempered by slightly
better news on the U.S. jobs market. The Labor Department reported
that the number of people filing claims for unemployment benefits
for the first time fell to 404,000 last week.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 1.66, or 0.1
percent, to 1,280.26. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite index
fell 21.07, or 0.8 percent, to 2,704.29.
In currencies, the dollar rose to 83.04 yen from 82.98 yen late
Thursday. The euro held steady at $1.3472.
