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Politics : Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Les H who wrote (26)	8/31/1998 3:08:00 PM
From: SOROS	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1151

Hong Kong Plummets 7.14% Region Continues Descent Wall Street Journal - On Line - 08/30/98 Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged 7.1% Monday, as it appeared the government was no longer buying shares to prop up the market. Most other Asian-Pacific markets also fell sharply. The government intervened in the market for the past two weeks to punish speculators. The battle culminated in Friday's buying spree, which boosted trading volume to a record 79 billion Hong Kong dollars worth of shares. However, the government is expected to gradually unload the stocks it bought, or at least not buy as aggressively, traders said. Meanwhile, news that Sakura Bank plans to increase its capital pushed the Nikkei stock average higher Monday after it sank to a 12-year low on Friday. On Monday, the company's president, Akishige Okada, said at a press conference the bank is consulting with Toyota Motor, Mitsui & Co, Mitsui Fudosan and other major shareholders and customers about a 300 billion yen capital increase. Mr. Okada said the bank plans to raise the capital through the issue of new ordinary shares and preferred shares which may be bought by major shareholders and customers. The bank hopes to increase its capital as soon as possible within this fiscal year ending next March, he said. Taiwan shares finished at a 22-month low, and Australian shares returned early gains after Hong Kong's stock market began to slide. China's Class B shares fell, as poor earnings reports and plunging Hong Kong equities kept investors sidelined. Stocks on the Korea Stock Exchange advanced, with the main index rising 1.8%, encouraged by expectations of government measures to help boost the current sluggish economy. Traders added that the market was also supported by the fact that the U.S. and Russia are making efforts to resolve the current economic turmoil in Russia. Philippine shares fell for the seventh consecutive session Monday, weighed down by Friday's weakness on Wall Street and the poor prospect for the local economy. On Friday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 114.31, or 1.4%, to 8051.68. The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index rose nearly 1%, gaining support late in the day when foreign investors entered the market to pick up telecommunications and tobacco blue chips. However, most Indonesian shares ended the session with substantial losses. Singapore's new Straits Times Index of 55 stocks fell 3.3% from Friday's closing level of the Straits Times Industrial Index of 30 issues. And the Stock Exchange of Thailand Index lost 2% of its value, as foreign investors continued to flee Bangkok's bourse. In early trading, India's Bombay and National stock exchanges opened lower in the wake of continued weakness in global stock markets. Malaysia's financial markets were closed for a national holiday. In dollar terms, the Asia-Pacific sector of the Dow Jones Global Indexes rose 0.28 to 63.40 at 6:30 a.m. EDT Monday, after ending unchanged Saturday. The Dow Jones World Stock Index fell 0.09 to 171.01, after gaining 0.01 Saturday. Asian Stock Market Indexes Market Index Aug. 31 Change Australia All Ordinaries 2480.70 - 1.44% China DJ China 88 127.04 + 0.93% Hong Kong Hang Seng 7275.04 - 7.08% India Bombay Sensex 2899.12* - 0.32% Indonesia JSX Index 342.436 + 1.01% Japan Nikkei 14107.89 + 1.38% Malaysia KLSE Composite 302.91 - 3.38% Philippines PSE Index 1192.25 - 0.21% Singapore STI 856.43* - 3.26% S. Korea Korea Composite 310.16 + 1.76% Taiwan Weighted 6550.11 - 2.76% Thailand SET 214.53 - 1.97% * -- Quote reflects early Monday trading. -- Previous quote. Market closed for a holiday. * -- Singapore introduced a new stock index, the Straits Times Index, on Monday