Asian markets fall further despite U.S. pick-up

The falls followed Monday's losses that came on the back of a Wall Street dive at the end of last week. Despite news Thursday that the U.S. had moved out of recession, dealers are still on edge about the strength of recovery.

Even a 0.79 percent pick-up in New York Monday — after data showing U.S. manufacturing rose for a third straight month — was unable to ease jitters.

Sydney fell after the central bank raised interest rates 25 basis points for a second month in a row. Trading was also thinner in the afternoon due to the Melbourne Cup horse race.

Analysts tipped investors to remain cautious until the end of a U.S. monetary policy meeting and the release of a non-farm payrolls report on Friday.

Shanghai bucked the regional trend again on hopes that bank lending surged last month, boosting liquidity. The new Nasdaq-style ChiNext board also saw heavy corrections after Friday's meteoric debut.

HONG KONG: Down 1.76 percent. The Hang Seng Index fell 380.13 points to 21,240.06. Profit-taking in Chinese banks emerged after gains Monday and a report pointing to China's big four extending more new loans in October than September.

SYDNEY: Down 0.20 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 8.9 points to 4,531.5. Turnover was slim due to the Melbourne Cup, dealers said.

“In Australia, the 'race that stops the nation' saw anemic volumes traded with the market drifting in the afternoon as bear watchers became horse watchers,” IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock said.

SHANGHAI: Up 1.22 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, rose 37.58 points to 3,114.23.

The official China Securities Journal reported Tuesday the country's biggest four banks had extended new loans of about 136 billion yuan (19.9 billion dollars) in October, up from 110 billion yuan in September. ChiNext continued to fall on its third day, with 23 of the 28 stocks on the board losing ground.

SEOUL: Down 0.59 percent. The KOSPI fell 9.17 points to 1,549.92. The reaction to better-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data reflected still weak sentiment, analysts said.

SINGAPORE: Down 0.90 percent. The Straits Times Index fell 23.88 points to 2,621.55.

BANGKOK: Down 1.29 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand lost 8.74 points to close at 668.48.

KUALA LUMPUR: Flat. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index edged up 0.56 points, or 0.05 percent, to 1,242.32.

MANILA: Flat. The index fell 0.26 points to 2,908.24.

WELLINGTON: Down 0.78 percent. The NZX-50 lost 24.75 points to 3,158.99.

MUMBAI: Down 3.09 percent. The 30-share Sensex index fell 491.34 points to 15,404.94, a two-month-low and a sixth day of losses.

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