Asia-Pacific markets rally amid HK rebound

Asia-Pacific markets rally amid HK rebound

HONG KONG (AFP): Asian share prices rallied yesterday with
some markets making their first gains in the new year, taking
heart from Wall Street's resilience and a rebound in Hong Kong.

Indonesian share prices jumped a spectacular 9.1 percent in
heavy trade, up 31.900 points at 382.137, with the market buoyed
by ongoing talks between the government and the International
Monetary fund (IMF).

But one sales director at a Jakarta brokerage urged caution,
saying: "Let's see what happens on Thursday when the government
announces the results of its discussions with the IMF.

"If there is no major progress, then we are likely to go back
to where we started a few days ago."

Hong Kong was also stronger as share prices surged 7.4 percent
for the first gain of the new year, rebounding from a steep
plunge of 8.7 percent the previous day, on the back of Wall
Street's resilience.

Hong Kong dealers said sentiment was still cautious amid fears
of further increases in interest rates and possible deterioration
in ailing regional markets.

"The market is very oversold, there is no doubt about it. But
without regional stability, there is no way we can go anyway
further from here," said Eugene Law, research head at Lippo
Securities.

The key Hang Seng index gained 598.94 points to close at
8,720.00 following seven consecutive sessions of losses, after
Wall Street overnight reversed a sharp early slide and ended
higher.

In Shanghai, B shares, nominally reserved for foreign
investors, fared better on a stronger Hong Kong market,
rebounding from historic lows to close 5.16 percent higher, up
2.12 points at 43.01.

It charted a record intra-day low of 38.40 points, following
Monday's nine-percent loss to 40.89 points.

"I think the recovery can be maintained for some time to come.
B shares are completely internationalized now," said Daishin
Securities analyst Zhao Ya.

Japanese share prices rebounded for the first time in four
trading days Tuesday, aided by a recovery in Asian share prices
and uninterrupted by a hostage-taking incident at the stock
exchange, brokers said.

The key Nikkei stock average of 225 selected issues on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 91.50 points to end the session at
14,755.94.

Singapore share prices ended 7.7 percent higher on a technical
rebound after seven straight days of sharp falls.

"It was mainly valuations, which have fallen to attractive
levels, that encouraged buying," said Lim Jit Soon, research head
of UBS Securities Singapore. "The (previous) selling was overdone
and irrational."

However, analysts warned the market's rebound was
unsustainable.

"Following the market's sharp fall, this rebound is
technically expected. We are still overwhelmed by uncertainty in
the region. The rebound will be temporary," said a research head
with a regional brokerage.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's key stock index closed 5.5 percent
higher on fresh local support amid rebounds in regional bourses
and currencies. It gained 26.32 points to 503.89.

One local fund manager said the presence of IMF officials and
the United States in the region was seen as "injecting
confidence" and signaled that they were steadfastly backing
ailing economies like Indonesia.

In Bangkok, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite
index rallied 2. 9 percent, or 9.79 points, to 348.96, while the
SET 50 index climbed 0.98 points to finish at 24.86.

In Seoul, share prices gained 1.6 percent, or 7.54 points, to
463.74, reacting positively to IMF chief Michel Camdessus's
display of confidence in the recovery of the economy.

Taiwan shares rebounded 1.9 percent as the Taiwan Stock
Exchange weighted price index soared 138.10 points to 7,513.24.
Philippine share prices closed 3.8 percent higher, up 58.02
points at 1, 590.99, on bargain-hunting.

Lisa Joson of Amsteel Securities Philippines Inc. said the
upturn was due to "bargain hunting because so many stocks have
reached oversold conditions" but warned "we cannot attribute it
(the upturn) to anything fundamental."

Australian shares rallied 0.9 percent as buyers returned on
the strength of better Asian markets and the overnight Wall
Street rise.

"We're just back to where we should have been yesterday,"
Henderson Charlton Jones dealer Scott Emms said.

The Australian Stock Exchange's key barometer, the All
Ordinaries index, rose 22.9 points to 2,565.3 with almost all the
rise attributable to industrial stocks.

New Zealand shares closed up 0.1 percent, with the NZSE-40
index gaining 1. 69 points to 2,214.52.

In London, stock markets across Europe rallied early on
Tuesday with strong performances inspired by Wall Street's
resilience against Asian financial turmoil overnight.

In London, the FTSE-100 key index rose 20.9 points to 5,089.7
in early trading, taking its lead from the rally on Wall Street
where the Dow Jones brushed aside jitters over plummeting markets
in Asia and closed with a gain of 66.76 points to 7,647.18.

Prices surged in Paris, where the CAC-40 index advanced by 1.8
percent to 2,914.09 points.

In Frankfurt, the DAX index also shot up 1.8 percent, at
4,160.25, while in Madrid the Ibex-35 was up 1.4 percent at
7,495.30.