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Asian stocks fall despite Senate rescue plan vote
Tomoko A. Hosaka, Associated Press Writer
Thursday October 2, 2:23 am ET
TOKYO (AP) --

Asian stocks fall despite Senate approval of US bank bailout plan

Asian stock markets retreated Thursday as broader concerns about a global slowdown outweighed any relief over the U.S. Senate's passage of the bailout package to rescue the U.S. financial system.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average was down 2 percent at 11,156 in afternoon trading, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 1.2 percent to 17,793.

Benchmarks in Australia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were also in negative territory.

In Washington Wednesday, the Senate approved in a 74-25 vote a revised rescue bill with tax breaks and a provision to raise the cap on federal deposit insurance. The House of Representatives, which rejected an earlier version of the bill, will likely vote on the new version Friday.

But even if the package is approved, traders are skeptical about the bailout's ultimate impact on a faltering global economy. Cleaning up the bad debt mess will be a long, arduous process, and the crisis is spreading in Europe, where governments have pumped money into two troubled banks, Fortis NV and Dexia.

"Investors are still concerned about the efficiency of this rescue plan and how it can help the global economy," said Aric Au, marketing manager for institutional sales at Phillip Securities in Hong Kong. "But at this moment, nobody is sure about this. They need to have more information about the finalized plan."