Asia-Pacific markets hit by marginal fluctuations

Asia-Pacific markets hit by marginal fluctuations

TOKYO (AFP): There were marginal fluctuations on most Asia- Pacific markets yesterday, as the Thai bourse continued its downward slide amid a deepening financial crisis and Taiwan shares rose above a seven year closing high set Wednesday.

The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 leading issues fell 232.18 points to finish at 18,041.33, following a 1.6 percent fall in the previous session.

The Topix index of all issues on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 17.91 points at 1,354.01.

In Hong Kong share prices closed .04 percent up, with a late bout of profit-taking canceling out early gains, dealers said.

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong's key Hang Seng index put on 5.6 points to finish the day at 13,416.36.

In Jakarta share prices closed 0.4 percent lower on continued selling pressure from foreign investors, despite easing fears of a possible US interest rate increase, dealers said.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 3.05 points at 683. 11.

In Bangkok share prices shed 1.0 percent on continuing concerns about liquidity of finance companies, analysts said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index was down 7.07 points at 676.65 points, while the SET-50 select was off 0.52 points at 49.38 points.

In Kuala Lumpur, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's 100-share weighted composite index fell 2.44 points to 1,249.84, after an intra-day high of 1,259.95.

In Singapore, the Stock Exchange of Singapore fell 12.60 points to 2,179.93. The broader All-Singapore index fell 0.49 point to 550.47.

In Sydney, the Australian Stock Exchange's benchmark All Ordinaries index rose 14.4 points to 2,447.4.

In Taipei, the Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index gained 61.54 points to 8, 081.00, a day after setting a new seven year closing high.

In Seoul, the composite index added 3.21 points to finish at 678.11 points.

In Wellington, the New Zealand Stock Exchange 40 capital index was up 4.92 points to 2288.18.

In Shanghai, the stock exchange's B share index rose 0.29 points to close at 69.01 points. The A share index of domestically-traded shares rose 28.88 points, or 2.6 percent, to 1,128.34.

In London, share prices rose to record high values early yesterday on overnight gains on Wall Street where stock prices had risen after favorable comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, dealers said.

The FT-SE 100 index of leading shares touched a record intra- day high of 4, 391.9 points, before dropping back to 4,383.9 points which was 23.8 points higher than at the close of trade on Wednesday.

In Paris, the CAC-40 index opened 34.24 points higher at 2,700.43.