WORLD STOCK MARKETS: Supply and demand worries lead Tokyo to 27-month low
Financial Times, Jan 12, 2001
By BAYAN RAHMAN
Tokyo fell for a third straight day and closed at a 27-month low on concerns about a supply-demand imbalance and weakness in internet-related issues, writes Bayan Rahman.
The Nikkei 225 average lost 231.58, or 1.7 per cent, at 13,201.07. The broader Topix index fell 23.99 to 1,230.10 and the Nikkei 300 shed 4.37 at 253.51. S&P's Topix 150 lost 20.92 at 1,112.38.
"There are supply and demand worries but these should be over by mid-March when we might see a rally," said Garry Evans, strategist at HSBC Securities in Tokyo.
Concern about oversupply overshadowed the market, which is already hit by the continued unwinding of cross-held shares ahead of the financial year-end in March. NTT DoCoMo, Japan's leading mobile phone company, will offer up to 460,000 new shares from Friday to raise about Y900bn. Its shares fell 3.5 per cent to Y1.95m.
Toyota Motor, Japan's leading carmaker, fell Y270, or 7.4 per cent, to Y3,400, its lowest close since September 1999 on reports that shares in the company held by banks were being sold ahead of consolidation in the banking industry.
Internet shares also declined after Yahoo! issued a profits warning. Yahoo Japan fell 8.9 per cent to Y5.24m and Softbank, which holds stakes in Yahoo! and Yahoo Japan, fell 12.2 per cent to Y2,995.
Hong Kong was unnerved by Tokyo's slide and the overnight profit warning from Yahoo! sent internet and telecom group Pacific Century CyberWorks to its lowest close since its takeover of Cable & Wireless HKT last August.
The Hang Seng index finished with a loss of 345.02 or 2.2 per cent at 15,090.77.
PCCW lost 3.1 per cent to HKDollars 4.68.
Singapore lost ground as negative comment from a number of leading US groups hit local technology stocks. The Straits Times index ended 2.8 per cent lower at 1,915.02.
Manila was hit by profit-taking that ended a three-day rally of more than 4 per cent and sent the composite index down 1.2 per cent to 1,515.89.
Copyright: The Financial Times Limited
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2000.
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