Asian stocks slump on oil price, US jobless surge

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

TOKYO (AFP) — Asian stocks tumbled Monday after a breathtaking surge in oil prices and shock jump in US unemployment sent Wall Street spinning and fanned fears of sharply slower economic growth.

Japanese shares slid two percent after a dizzying three-percent plunge in the US on Friday, when oil prices rocketed the most ever in a single day to close nearly 11 dollars up at record levels around 139 dollars per barrel.

India slumped over 4.5 percent by noon Monday, Taiwan closed down 1.8 percent and South Korea ended more than one percent in the red, while Singapore was trading over two percent lower.

"Asian markets are certainly in for a heavy pounding over the next few weeks," the respected Shanghai-based independent economist Andy Xie told AFP.

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