Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : JAPAN-Nikkei-Time to go back up? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: chirodoc who wrote (1737)	3/2/1999 9:40:00 AM
From: fut_trade	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3902

...could HK be telling us what is happening in china? Hong Kong's problems include a lack of leadership after the handover. Hong Kong's budget has traditionally relied on strong revenues by gov't land sales. But this source of revenue has been in decline the last few years. It is said that the gov't needs to reinvent itself. But it doesn't seem to know how to proceed. I think that Hong Kong doesn't reflect what's happening in China because China's problems are tied to inefficient state-run industries. I don't know too much about Thailand, except that it didn't meet expectations as a fifth Asian Tiger. Korea and Japan are still under darks clouds caused by corruption and overcapacity. I don't think there will be a definite recovery in the short term.

To: chirodoc who wrote (1737)	3/4/1999 1:43:00 AM
From: fut_trade	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3902

FOCUS-HK leads Asia stocks lower, Japan up on yen By Ramthan Hussain SINGAPORE, March 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks led most Asian markets lower on Thursday while the dollar's strength and lower Japanese interest rates supported Tokyo shares. The soft yen gave some relief to Japanese exporters but caused jitters in South Korea, its main competitor on major exports, sparking a fall in volatile Seoul stocks. The dollar rose to 122.68 yen in afternoon Tokyo trade, its highest since December 1, from around 121.80 yen in New York on Wednesday, reflecting a recent downtrend on Japanese interest rates, traders said. The dollar buying came as Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party panel considers ways to curb rises in long-term interest rates, including having the Bank of Japan underwrite government bonds, dealars said. The yield on the key 203rd Japanese government bond stood at 1.555 percent at midday, down from Wednesday's close of 1.670 percent. Japanese shares got an early boost from individual blue chips such as Sony Corp and NTT Docomo. But the rises were curbed by companies off-loading cross shareholdings ahead of the end of this business year on March 31, traders said. By afternoon trade the Nikkei 225 average was up 41.39 points, or 0.29 percent at 14,211.75. ''The market was cheered by continuing gains in Sony shares, but we also saw the limited upside in the market,'' said Masatoshi Sato, manager at Kankaku Securities Co Ltd. The firm dollar also propped Sony's shares, as this would boost export-driven firms' dollar-denominated profits, traders said. Hong Kong shares fell 36.19 points or 0.36 percent to 9,886.21 on profit taking as the territory's budget dampened sentiment, brokers said. ''Trading is sluggish since the budget was mainly focused on long-term measures and lacked short-term stimulus,'' said Sean Li, associate director at Amsteel Securities. South Korean blue chips were pressured by the weak yen as sellers targetted large capitalised shares. The Composite Stock Price Index lost 1.99 points or 0.37 percent to 535.50 in afternoon trade. ''It's quite burdensome as the resurgence in the dollar versus the yen surfaced when the local market was about to consolidate,'' said analyst Choo Hee-yup at Dongwon Securities. Taiwan stocks also reversed early gains on late profit-taking around the resistance level of 6,500 points, brokers said. It ended down 9.4 points or 0.15 percent at 6,393.74. Malaysian shares defied gloomy forecasts to rise almost 0.43 percent to 515.44 in afternoon trade on a technical rebound. But they said the gains would evaporate as the underlying fundamentals remained soft. Australian shares dipped in sluggish trade weighed down by bond market jitters and Wall Street's overnight dip of 0.23 percent to 9,275.88 points. The All Ordinaries index lost 10.1 points to 2,879.8 in the afternoon, while New Zealand shares closed 6.01 points higher at 2,163.79. Singapore shares rose 0.89 percent to 1,428 in afternoon trade but sentiment was weak as the local currency softened, prompting fears of higher interest rates. Manila stocks closed down 11.24 points or 0.56 percent at 1,997.68 on profit-taking while Jakarta's composite index was up slightly by 0.0154 points at 395.96. Thai stocks shed 2.74 points to 338.77 on bearish bank stocks. --- ...might japan, thailand and korea rebound as HK slips? I think the only thing that matters in Asia is that the world's second largest economy gets going again. Japan is more advanced and innovative than the Asian Tigers. If Japan can't turn it's economy around -- why should anyone think that one of the Asian Tigers should thrive? Since the Asian Tigers have adapted Japan's model of economic expansion -- and are not as successful and advanced as Japan, I think Japan must lead the way to a new era of growth. Whether or not they will be successful I can only guess.