Wednesday, 05 June 2013 12:30
Posted by Parvez Jabri
HONG KONG: Asian markets fell Wednesday, taking a negative lead from Wall Street as data showed the US trade deficit had widened, while Tokyo slumped again over a policy speech by Japan's prime minister.The dollar also fell back below the 100 yen level after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came up short of expectations with his economic growth strategy.Tokyo dived 3.83 percent, or 518.89 points, to 13,014.87 -- continuing a rollercoaster couple of weeks that has seen the Nikkei lose about 15 percent.Sydney shed 1.34 percent, or 65.6 points, to 4,835.2 and Seoul gave up 1.52 percent, or 30.32 points, to end at 1,959.19.In the afternoon Hong Kong lost 1.23 percent and Shanghai was off 0.24 percent.Abe's speech on Wednesday outlined more details on his plans to boost growth in Japan's limp economy but analysts said he failed to ignite interest, with the main points already well-touted ahead of time.Investors ...