The Olympian – Asian stock markets turned in a mixed performance Friday, but most recoiled from their lows despite a grim profit forecast from Toyota and sluggish U.S. economic data. European markets opened higher.

Many of Asia’s bourses showed surprising resilience – notably in Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore – given the overnight drop on Wall Street, as lower-priced shares attracted buyers and lending markets showed more signs of mending.

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Telegraph.co.uk – A move by US and European central banks, as well as by central banks in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and South Korea, to slash borrowing costs has failed to reassure investors.

"It’s impossible to predict the bottom, and technical analysis is meaningless as panic and fear overwhelm the markets," said Jang Huh, at Prudential Asset Management in Seoul.

Japan’s Nikkei stock index fell 10pc, the biggest loss since “Black Monday” in October 1987 and it third biggest loss ever. The index, which closed down 881.06 points at 8,276.43, has lost more than 24pc over the past week.

Prime Minister Taro Aso warned that the slump could have real effects on Asia’s largest economy. The share price fall “has reached a point where it affects the real economy and fund raising,” he told reporters.

All indications are that European markets will open sharply lower.

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Emirates Business 24/7 – Cheap they may be, but not all cash-rich Gulf investors are up for buying distressed assets in the US.

Such a move historically was a good way to make a profit. A good fund manager can buy up distressed assets for pennies on the dollar and figure out ways to sell them down the road for nickels or dimes on the dollar.

It’s a reasonable business proposition, and there are a handful of cases where investors made big profits from buying distressed assets following bursting bubbles. But with a global meltdown on the horizon, not everyone is willing to take a risk.

Dubai Group, a financial conglomerate of Dubai Holding, for one is planning to launch a fund of funds in the first half of 2009 to invest in the US and European markets. The fund, according to Tom Volpe, its group chief executive would not buy distressed assets but rather focus on traditional asset management and private equities. "Are we going to buy distressed assets? The answer is, ‘No’," he told Emirates Business. 

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