Asian Stock Markets Close Higher
Monday April 19, 8:09 am Eastern Time
HONG KONG (AP) -- Most Asian stock markets surged Monday, with the key index in Hong Kong closing at its highest level in almost 18 months.
Bucking the trend was the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where prices slipped on jitters about earnings prospects of high-technology companies.
In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 276.14 points, or 2.2 percent, to 12,766.44, it highest close since Oct. 21, 1997. On Friday, the index had soared 528.07 points, or 4.4 percent.
Brokers said foreign investors were continuing to buy blue chips on mounting optimism about the economic outlook for Asia.
The index broke through the psychological important 13,000-point barrier before retreating in the afternoon session on selective profit-taking.
''Foreign funds were flooding into Asia,'' said Kingsway SW Securities Ltd.'s analyst Patrick Yiu.
Indonesian shares also soared on a continued flow of foreign funds into the market.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange's Composite Index rose 6 percent, or 28.615 points, to close at 508.147.
In the Philippines, a series of measures implemented by the central bank to encourage bank lending propelled the main index Monday to its highest level in 20 months.
The 30-company Philippine Stocks Exchange Index surged 122.34 points, or 5.5 percent, to 2355.98, The index's latest close is its highest level since it reached 2,300.82 points on Aug. 26, 1997.
The Philippine central bank's cut in its key overnight rates Monday and the 1 percentage-point cut in the minimum liquidity reserve requirement of commercial banks Friday freed up billions of pesos in the financial system.
South Korean shares also closed sharply higher as investors bought blue-chip stocks on news of the restructuring of the country's biggest conglomerates.
Traders said Daewoo Group's plans to announce its restructuring program, including the sale of some of its operations, boosted the market. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 41.45 points, or 5.7 percent, to 766.59.
Tokyo's benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 177.37 points, or 1.05 percent, to close the day at 16,674.21. On Friday, the index gained 124.50 points, or 0.74 percent.
The poor performance Friday in America's Nasdaq index, which includes many high-technology shares, triggered selling of Japanese hi-tech issues on Monday. The Nasdaq closed down 4.20 percent on the week Friday.
Japanese precision machinery and electronic share prices have languished since U.S.-based companies Compaq and Intel (Nasdaq:INTC - news) warned last week that their earnings may not be as strong as expected.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar bought 118.16 yen, down 0.06 from late Friday in Tokyo but above its late New York level of 118.02 yen on Friday.
Elsewhere:
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed sharply higher on huge liquidity inflows, traders said. The Straits Times Index rose 4.1 percent, or 72.39 points, to close at 1,842.31.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed higher as investors' sentiment on the region's financial markets turned positive. The benchmark Composite Index closed at 615.42 points, up 16.01 points, or 2.7 percent.
SYDNEY: Australian shares closed higher, with the key index rising to another all-time high following strong gains in the resources and media sectors. The All Ordinaries Index rose 13.3 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3113.1, eclipsing the previous all-time closing high of 3099.8 set Friday.
TAIPEI: Share prices closed higher, The market's key Weighted Stock Price Index rose 41.68 points, or 0.5 percent, to 7,623.18.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed higher for the fourth straight session. The benchmark NZSE-40 Capital Index rose 7.03 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,212.81.
BANGKOK: Thai share prices closed higher as foreign cash continued to buoy the market despite signs of some profit-taking. The SET index rose 9.65 points, or 2.4 percent, to 412.19. |
