Hong Kong (AsiaNews) – By mid morning Asian stock markets were down, marked by concerns that the United States financial bail out plan will not arrive in time.
This morning the Hong Kong stock exchange was at minus 2.7%; Shanghai was down by 1%; other markets showed a similar trend. Tokyo’s stock exchange is closed for a national holiday.
Yesterday the New York stock exchange closed down 3.3%, following recent gains, thanks to the US Treasury’s bail-out plan of over 700 billion dollars. The plan however has yet to be approved by Congress, and politicians have been expressing their doubts.
While stocks continue to lose value, the price of oil and gold is on the rise. Yesterday gold was at 901.9 US dollars, after having reached a high of 908.8 during the day’s trading, its highest point since August. Yesterday the price of petrol (referring to October) registered it sharpest increase in one single day, reaching 120 dollars a barrel. Forecasts for November foresee a drop in prices.