Asian-Pacific markets slide as commodities' fall unnerves traders

                                                                     

Stock markets fell Wednesday across Asia-Pacific. Australia's market was hit by weak energy and materials stocks, possible further tightening of monetary policy in China worried investors. Australia's S&P/ASX 200, South Korea's Kospi Composite and China's Shanghai Composite lost 1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.3%, Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.2% and New Zealand's NZX 50 edged up 0.1%. In afternoon trading, Malaysia's KLCI slid 0.4%, Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 1.2%, Indonesian shares fell 0.6%, Thailand's SET was unchanged and India's Sensex gave up 0.4%. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday. Full story here