Asian stocks sink on US turbulence, weak China growth

A man stops his car in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 at a securities firm in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016. Asian stock prices tumbled Wednesday after Wall Street turbulence and weaker Chinese economic growth. AP

BEIJING — Asian stock prices tumbled Wednesday after the IMF’s lower growth forecast added to anxiety over Wall Street turbulence and a weaker Chinese economy.

KEEPING SCORE: Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 3.7 percent to 16,420.81 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 3.5 percent to 18,953.96. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.3 percent to 2,968.92 and South Korea’s Kospi was off 2.3 percent at 1,846.41. Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 shed 1.3 percent to 4,841.50. India’s Sensex was down 1.6 percent at 24,088.07. Markets in Southeast Asia also retreated.

WALL STREET: U.S. stocks struggled through turbulent trading Tuesday and eked out small gains, led by utility and consumer stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average rose as much as 183 points in the first minutes of trading Tuesday. Gains faded in the afternoon before a late spurt of buying. The Dow ended up 27.94 points, or 0.2 percent, at 16,016.02. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose one point to 1,881.33. The Nasdaq composite index fell 11.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,476.95. Major indexes had plunged Friday, and the Dow and S&P 500 are coming off their worst opening weeks of a year in history.

CHINESE SLOWDOWN: The world’s second-largest economy cooled further in the latest quarter, dragging 2015’s growth to a 25-year low of 6.9 percent. The slowdown has dampened demand for goods from oil to iron to heavy machinery. Anxiety over China’s outlook has contributed to oil prices falling to 12-year lows.

THE QUOTE: “The wheels look like they are coming off in the Asian session today,” said IG market analyst Angus Nicholson in a report. “The stabilisation we saw yesterday now appears to have only been a pause. China’s somewhat mystifying 3 percent rally in the Shanghai Composite was quickly lost at the open, killing sentiment across the whole Asian region.”

IMF OUTLOOK: The International Monetary cut its forecast for this year’s global economic growth to 3.4 percent from its October outlook of 3.6 percent. The IMF downgraded the outlook for developing economies to 4.3 percent growth from a forecast of 4.5 percent in October. Earlier this month, the World Bank cut its global growth forecast to 2.9 percent from last June’s 3.3 percent outlook.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude for March delivery was down 81 cents to $28.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The February contract, which expires Wednesday, fell 96 cents to $28.46 on Tuesday in New York Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, lost 57 cents to $28.19 in London. The contract rose 21 cents on Monday to close at $28.76.

CURRENCIES: The dollar declined to 116.86 yen from 117.46 in the previous trading session. The euro edged rose to $1.0956 from $1.0920. TVJ

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