HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian stocks were in deep trouble again, led down by Tokyo, with nervous investors bracing for key US price data as the US central bank warned anew of the dangers of inflation.
Dealers said the reverse may have started out in early May as profit-taking in markets at record or multi-year highs but it now looks to be something more serious -- a sustained sell-off gathering a momentum of its own.
Tokyo, one of recent best performers, highlighted that worry, falling 4.14 percent for the worst single-day loss since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. That leaves the market down 13.1 percent for 2006 and down 19 percent from its early April peak.
Sentiment was additionally hit by Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui's surprise admission that he had invested in the fund of Yoshiaki Murakami, who was arrested last week on charges of insider trading.
"Compared with the US market, Tokyo share prices have risen much more in the past year, so once shares started to fall, the spiral of declines is much worse here," said Masatoshi Sato, senior strategist at Mizuho Investors Securities.
Sato said the impact of the Fukui story was made worse because investors are so preoccupied with what the central banks will do on interest rates.
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After a series of warnings from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and other officials, Wall Street got another dose Monday from Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland who said the inflation picture, if sustained, exceeded her "comfort level."
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