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HONG KONG - ASIAN shares are likely to fall on Monday, as investors brace for more weak economic data from the United States this week, fuelling fears of a deep recession.
The US Commerce Department will on Thursday release third-quarter economic data and economists are forecasting that the gross domestic product probably shrank during the period.
Other data to watch out for include new home sales, consumer sentiment, durable goods order.
The Federal Reserve will begin on Tuesday a two-day meeting and policy makers are expected to deliver another half-point rate cut, bringing its key rates to the lowest in over four years.
Central banks around the world are likely to follow the Fed in trimming rates to calm financial markets and boost sagging economies.
South Korea's central bank will hold an unscheduled meeting today and some analysts expect another rate cut.
US stocks tumbled last week on pessimism about the global economy, which sent the S&P 500 on track to its worst month ever since the post-World War Two era.
Last week, the US dollar gained to a two-year high against a basket of currencies against the euro, while the yen soared to multi-year highs versus the euro and the dollar.
SEOUL
South Korean shares opened marginally lower on Monday after plunging more than 10 per cent on Friday.
The Kospi index opened down 1.57 points or 0.2 per cent at 937.18.
TOKYO
Japan's Nikkei stock index dropped 1.06 per cent at the opening on Monday, hitting a level last seen in the 1980s before the country's asset bubble burst.
The Nikkei-225 index lost 80.72 points to 7,568.36, the lowest point since November 1982.
The drop followed further heavy losses on overseas markets as investors worried about the fallout from the worst global financial crisis in decades.
The Nikkei has fallen 50 per cent this year and is 80 per cent off its all-time high of 38,915.87 reached in December 1989 before Japan's asset bubble burst, ushering in a decade of stagnant growth, recessions and deflation.
The Nikkei has been hit by concerns about the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s and by a soaring yen, which is at a 13-year high against the dollar and a six-year peak against the euro.
US and European markets suffered heavy losses on Friday. Wall Street's Dow Jones index ended down 3.59 per cent.
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia's financial markets are closed on Monday for a public holiday. Trading will resume on Tuesday.
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