Top Financial News
Sun, 09 Jan 2000, 10:29pm EST
Asian Stocks: Region Rallies, Led by Telecom Shares, After
Nasdaq Rebound
By Heejin Koo
Hong Kong, Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rallied, led
by telecommunications companies including China Telecom (Hong
Kong) Ltd. and Dacom Corp., as the U.S. Nasdaq Composite Index's
rebound and last week's declines made them attractive to some
investors.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 596.12, or 3.9 percent,
to 16,001.75, while Korea's Kospi index climbed 32.93, or 3.5
percent, to 981.58, below its five-year closing high recorded
Tuesday of 1059.04.
``The sharp correction in Asia last week looks overdone,
especially after the rebound in the U.S. Friday,' said Francis
Wong, director at American Express Asset Management Ltd., which
manages $2 billion in Asia. ``The likelihood of further
significant falls market are slim.'
In other markets, Taiwan's TWSE Index rose 1.9 percent, led
by electronics shares. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 2.2
percent, led by Keppel Corp. and other economy proxies as the
U.S. rally eased concern about slowing growth in its biggest
trading partner. Australia's All Ordinaries Index rose 1.8
percent as investors bought banking and media stocks in the
belief that the shares have fallen too much given projected
earnings.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 3.9 percent, after earlier
soaring as much as 4.3 percent, its biggest gain since July 2
last year. Last week, the index fell 9.2 percent, its biggest
weekly decline since August 1998.
Internet-related shares paced the gain, as the Nasdaq's
rally allayed concern about an extended slump in the global
technology industry's share prices.
Pacific Century Cyberworks Ltd., the biggest Internet
company in Asia outside Japan by market capitalization, rose 14
percent to HK$16.40. China Telecom (Hong Kong) Ltd., the Hong
Kong-listed arm of China's largest mobile phone company, jumped
11 percent to HK$46.40. Founder (Hong Kong) Ltd., a unit of one
of China's biggest software makers, rose 10 percent to HK$8.45.
China-related companies rose as investors bet they'll be
less affected by any rise in U.S. interest rates. China Resources
Enterprise Ltd., the investment arm of China's foreign trade
ministry, added 5 percent to HK$13.60. China Merchants Holdings
International Company gained 5.8 percent to HK$7.35.
Korea
Korea's benchmark stock index rallied 3.5 percent, led by
Dacom Corp. and other telecommunications-related companies.
Telecom shares rose as the Nasdaq marked its 10th biggest
percentage gain Friday. ``Telecom shares will rise about 20
percent, in line with gains by technology shares on the U.S.
Nasdaq and other major stock markets,' said Park Jae Young, an
investment analyst at Samsung Securities Co. in Seoul.
Dacom, Korea's second-largest fixed line operator and
biggest Internet service provider, rose 6.2 percent to 351,000
won. It had shed 45 percent in a five-day fall to the lowest
level in three weeks, bringing it to a level that attracted
investors.
State-run Korea Telecom Corp. rose 5.3 percent to 140,000
won, after falling 25 percent last week. It was the second most
actively traded stock by value. SK Telecom Co., Korea's largest
mobile phone service operator, rose 10 percent to 3.69 million
won.
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's No. 1 computer memory
chipmaker by sales, rose 1.8 percent to 282,000 won, after the
Korea Economic Daily reported Semco Research, a U.S.-based
semiconductor industry research organization, forecast the market
for dynamic random access memory chips will expand 47 percent
this year to $27.8 billion.
Singapore
Taiwan's TWSE Index rose 169.36 to 9014,83. Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. rose 2.3 percent to NT$177 after
announcing Friday it would buy closely held Worldwide
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., underscoring its confidence in
future semiconductor demand.
Shareholders in Worldwide all rose. Winbond Electronics
Corp. rose by the maximum daily 7 percent limit to NT$86.50.
China Development Bank, Taiwan's largest venture capital investor
in the country, gained 4.6 percent to NT$57.50. China Steel
Corp., Taiwan's largest steelmaker, rose 4.1 percent to NT$25.70.
TSMC rival United Microelectronics Corp., which had been
widely reported as the competing suitor for Worldwide, fell 1.3
percent to NT$110.50.
Closely held Hung Kuo Group fell following newspaper reports
the company is scaling back its operations. China United Trust &
Investment Co. plunged 7 percent to NT$12. Hung Sheng
Construction Ltd., which is linked to the group, fell 2.3 percent
to NT$29.20.
Singapore
Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 53.10 to 2459.14, led
by Keppel and others whose fortunes are tied to the economy, as
the U.S. stocks rally suggests continued economic growth in the
island's biggest trading partner, traders say.
Some analysts are also optimistic that efforts by Singapore
companies to make themselves more competitive will help boost
earnings.
``The reporting season in March will show the corporate
sector is benefiting from what they've done last year,' said
Seah Hiang Hong, head of research at Kim Eng Securities Pte.
``They've restructured, so this will be the year to see the fruit
of the restructuring.'
Keppel Corp., whose business spans from ship repair, real
estate to mobile phone services, rose 2.3 percent to S$4.44.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., Singapore's No. 2 lender and the
only one of Singapore's three biggest family-controlled banks to
bring in a foreign chief executive, rose 3.4 percent to S$14.90.
Singapore Airlines Ltd., which counts on traffic to the U.S. and
the Americas for a quarter of sales, rose 2.5 percent to S$19.80.
Australia
Australia's All Ordinaries Index rose 54.40 to 3098.90.
National Australia Bank Ltd., Australia's largest bank, up 1
percent at A$22.11. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation's
biggest mortgage lender, rose 1.9 percent to A$25.57.
``Bank shares are extremely cheap,' said Albert Hung, who
helps manage $392.5 million in Australian equities at Allianz
Asset Management Ltd. in Sydney. ``On a fundamental basis NAB
shares are extremely good value.'
The ordinary shares of News Corp., the world's fourth-
largest media company, rose 2.4 percent to A$14.49.
News Corp.'s ``investments in BSkyB and TV Guide explains an
unprecedented 46 percent of News Corp.'s market cap,' Peter
Shorthouse, the media analyst at Warburg Dillon Read Australia
Ltd. wrote in a report last week. ``These have supported NCP's
valuations despite continued declines for Fox shares.'
Telstra Corp., the nation's dominant phone company, rose 1.5
percent to A$7.96, its first rise in six sessions.
The company has signed an agreement to buy OzEmail Ltd. from
MCI Worldcom Inc. for A$350 million to double its Internet
subscriber base.
Broken Hill Proprietary Co., the nation's largest resources
company, rose 2.3 percent to A$21.85 on expectations commodity
prices will rise further as the world economy improves, boosting
commodity prices and company earnings.
``We're focusing back on resource stocks to capture the
strength of the world economy,' said mark Fulton, head of
research at Salomon Smith Barney Australia Ltd.
Salomon Smith Barney forecasts the global economy will grow
3.7 percent in 2000 compared to an estimated 2.8 percent last
year.
In other markets: (See TNI ASIA MOV for detailed coverage)
Markets in Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia were closed for
holidays.
New Zealand's Top 40 Index rose 1.3 percent to 2173.34.
Telecom Corp., the nation's dominant phone company, rose 1.2
percent to NZ$8.80. Telecom, which accounts for 30 percent of the
Top 40 Index, traded as low as NZ$8.51 last week amid a global
sell-off of technology-related stocks. Fletcher Challenge Ltd.'s
energy division, the nation's biggest oil and gas producer, rose
2.9 percent to NZ$4.68. Fletcher paper, the dominant newsprint
maker in Australia and New Zealand, rose 4.5 percent to NZ$1.40,
its highest in nearly 16 weeks. ``A lot of these solid industrial
and commodity-related stocks have been overlooked when everybody
went looking for these high-tech stocks', some of which are now
looking a little shaky, said Williamson.
The Philippines' PSE Composite Index rose 0.7 percent to
2109.02, paced by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. as its
U.S.-traded shares surged 3.1 percent on Friday on optimism its
purchase of the country's No. 1 mobile phone company will boost
profit and extend its dominance. PLDT rose 2 percent to 1025
pesos. PLDT's shares account for more than a tenth of the
benchmark index. Petron Corp. rose 1.6 percent to 3.15 pesos, on
optimism profit at the nation's biggest oil refiner may rise as
the price for crude oil declines. Petron imports more than 90
percent of its crude oil from the Middle East. |
