Asian and European stock exchanges close mixed
Asian and European stock exchanges close mixed
HONG KONG (Agencies): Stock markets closed mixed around Asia
yesterday with bigger markets such as Tokyo, Hong Kong and
Singapore falling while others such as Manila, Taipei and Sydney
rose.
Hong Kong's stocks fell amid a fresh Sino-British spat, with
the Hang Seng Index shedding 90.61 or nearly one percent to close
at 9,846.40.
In Tokyo, share prices fell back from a two-day winning run on
the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed 126.73 points or 0.6
percent lower at 19,919.38. The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all
issues on the first section also sagged 8.55 points to 1,583.96.
In Singapore, share prices here on profit-taking as investors
liquidated positions on fears of a declining U.S. dollar, dealers
said.
The barometer Straits Times Industrials index shed 1.35 points
to close provisionally at 2,298.31.
In Bangkok, foreign institutional investors returned to the
Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) yesterday, catapulting the index
28.41 points, or 1.88 percent, to a close of 1,536.14 points,
brokers said.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian share prices closed higher
yesterday on active trading and renewed buying interest, brokers
said.
The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange 86-share weighted composite
index rose 4.73 points to 1,173.84 from 1,169.11. Rises led falls
276 to 152 with 78 unchanged.
In Sydney, lower-than-expected inflation data from the United
States overnight helped relieve anxieties on the Australian
bourse yesterday, pushing share prices to a firmer close amid
subdued trade.
The key All Ordinaries index closed 6.9 points (0.3 percent)
higher at 2,050.5 after it lingered in a tight nine-point range.
The London stock market fell by around 35 points on the
Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100 index after stronger-than-
expected British inflation and unemployment data but the market
later rallied when traders saw no selling from investors.
In Paris, the CAC-40 share index dropped 10.25 to 1,959.11.
The 30-share DAX index in Frankfurt was up 2.88 at 2,138.97.
In New York, U.S. stock prices rose strongly on Tuesday after
a positive report on consumer price inflation soothed Wall
Street's inflation jitters.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 19.52 points higher at
3,879.86. Earlier in the session, the index was up more than 30
points.