Asian Markets Slide Lower, Await U.S. Election Results
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Tokyo closed down with high-tech issues getting hit particularly hard and there was evidence about concern about events here in the</s>U.S. DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: Dalton Tanonaka is in Hong Kong now with a summary of the day's trading in Asia. Good morning, Dalton.</s>DALTON TANONAKA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Deborah. Good morning, David. Investors here continued their wait in the wings, waiting for their cue from a Wall Street dazed by the undecided election. Tokyo's Nikkei sliding nearly a half percent to close below the 15,000-point support level. Tech heavyweights Sony and Fujitsu leading the losers. The country's economic planning agency downgrading its official assessment of the economy for the first time in two years. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped three-quarters of a percent, dragged down by the two-percent fall of blue-chip Hutchison Whampoa. And trading in Australia hit by -- again by the fortunes of News Corp., investors dumping shares in Rupert Murdoch's media company after Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to neutral from a buy for the medium term, and that is after the company posted weak first-quarter results Wednesday. News Corp. makes up 11 1/2 percent of Australia's benchmark S&P; ASX 200 index, it plummeted more than 10 1/2 percent, the main board down nearly one percent. And that wraps up the trading day and week here in Asia. David and Deborah, back to you in New York.</s>MARCHINI: Dalton, before you go, is there any indication that the uncertainty about the U.S. election is having an impact on capital flows to and from Asia?</s>TANONAKA: Well, Asian investors, Deb, like their U.S. counterparts, are sitting on the sidelines, as well, especially the Japanese investors with the big pools of money in the bond market, you know, they are very conservative. Hong Kong investors known as more risk takers, but the feeling here too is that they are not about to go in big until the final outcome of the president's race.</s>MARCHINI: All right, Dalton Tanonaka reporting live from Hong Kong.