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Most Asian stock markets close higher |
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April 19, 2000
HONG KONG, APR 18 (AP) - Most Asian stock markets closed higher Tuesday, boosted by a strong rebound overnight on Wall Street.
Bucking the trend was the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average closed down 39.12 points, or 0.21 percent, at 18,969.52. On Monday it tumbled almost 7 percent - its fifth-worst fall ever - after U.S. stocks took a record plunge on Friday.
In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 515.95 points, or 3.5 percent, closing at 15,278.32. On Monday, the index plunged 1,380.39 points, or 8.6 percent.
Brokers said bargain-hunters stepped into the Hong Kong market following gains in U.S. stocks on Monday.
In New York, the Nasdaq composite index jumped a record 217.87 points, or 6.6 percent, to 3,539.16, nearly all of it coming over the final hour of trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 276.74, or 2.7 percent, to 10,582.51, recovering nearly half of Friday's record one-day point drop of 617.78.
But Hong Kong investors are still worried about whether the rapid reversal on Nasdaq is sustainable, traders said.
South Korean shares also surged, with the key index rising 5.6 percent on a technical rebound after Monday's plunge. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 747.30, up 39.58 points.
Share prices in Taiwan closed sharply higher in reaction to the rebound on Wall Street. The Taipei exchange's Weighted Stock Price Index rose 313.35 points, or 3.5 percent, to 9,307.03.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average rose more than 200 points during early trading as investors tried to forget Wall Street's woes last week.
But the blue-chip index fell back when institutional investors sold shares to free up funds before a reshuffle of its component stocks on Monday.
The Nihon Keizai newspaper, Japan's major financial daily and the administrator of the Nikkei index, will replace some old-line industries with so-called new-economy stocks.
"The new stocks that will be put in are expensive and the old ones are not expensive," said Robert Sask, head of the quantitative strategy group at Jardine Fleming Securities. "To keep an equal number of shares, you need more money."
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was quoted at 104.36 yen, up 1 yen from late Monday and also above its late New York level of 104.26 yen overnight.
Elsewhere:
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed higher. The NZSE-40 Capital Index rose 21.23 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,995.01.
SYDNEY: Australian stocks closed higher. The All Ordinaries Index rose 2.3 percent, or 66.5 points, to 2,986.5.
MANILA: Philippine stocks snapped a five-day losing streak and rose moderately in a technical rebound. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 10.59 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,648.13.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed higher following the overnight rebound on Wall Street. The Composite Index rose 5.93 points, or 0.6 percent, to 880.90.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed higher on a rebound from Monday's falls. The Straits Times Index rose 7.78 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,007.17.
JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed slightly lower. The Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent, or 1.004 points, at 528.259.
BANGKOK: Thai shares closed lower. The Composite Index fell 7.63 points, or 1.9 percent, to 385.25.
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