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US economy woes spark Asia falls Shares fall on commodity sell-off
(about 1 hour later)
Hong Kong and Australia shares have tumbled on concerns about the potential repercussions of a US slowdown. Europe and Asian stock markets fell as investors cashed in profits from record high commodity prices and mining and oil shares tumbled.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng stock index fell up to 4.4%, following falls in the US on Wednesday. Australia shares fell 3%. Oil prices dropped below $100 for the first time in two weeks, gold sank to a one-month low and copper fell too.
Mining and oil shares were hard hit as fears grew about a possible reduction in the demand for raw materials. Traders fears that a US slowdown will lead to a fall in demand for raw materials.
In Singapore trading, gold fell more than 2% to a one-month low of $920.30 an ounce, while US crude oil slid by $1.43 to $101.11 a barrel. In Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.5%, while in Asia there were stronger falls, with Hong Kong down 3.5%.
The price of gold fell 3% to $912.85 an ounce and in London, a barrel of Brent crude fell $1.82 to $98.90.
"The US is still the biggest contributor to global growth, so any slowdown will have implications for commodity prices," Jason Teh at Investors Mutual in Sydney said."The US is still the biggest contributor to global growth, so any slowdown will have implications for commodity prices," Jason Teh at Investors Mutual in Sydney said.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 3.5% at 21,108.2. Shares in mining companies were down sharply. In London, Anglo American fell 4.7 percent, BHP Billiton was down 2.9 percent and Rio Tinto was 3.3 percent lower.
However, shares in Shanghai closed up 1.1% after a period of volatile trading in which the index was as much as 6.5% lower during the day. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones ended 2.3% lower on Wednesday.
Japan's stock markets were closed for a public holiday.