Asian markets end higher, JSX slips 4%

Asian markets end higher, JSX slips 4%

HONG KONG (AP): Most Asian stock markets closed higher Monday on the back of last week's surge on Wall Street as fears eased about another rise in U.S. interest rates.

Bucking the trend was the Jakarta Stock Exchange, where the key index slumped more than 4 percent because of mounting violence in East Timor.

In Hong Kong, the blue chip Hang Index rose 206.85 points, or 1.6 percent, closing at 13,385.16. On Friday, the index had lost 189.25 points, or 1.4 percent.

Brokers said the Hong Kong market was boosted by the strong performance on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average surged 235.24 points to close at 11,078.45, a rise of 2.2 percent.

The Nasdaq rose 108.34 to 2,842.58, surpassing the previous high for a one-day point gain, 103.16, set on June 16.

U.S. Stocks surged after the Labor Department reported that employers added 124,000 jobs to their payrolls in August, fewer than most economists had expected. The figures eased about rising inflation.

The Japanese benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 126.52 points, or 0.72 percent, to end the day's trade at 17,756.51. On Friday, the average closed down 1.26 points, or 0.01 percent.

Traders in Tokyo said investors were also awaiting the release of Japan's April-June gross domestic product data on Friday.

"If there's a serious shrinkage in GDP, Japan's second supplementary budget will expand," and that will help stocks, said Tsuyosi Nomaguchi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities. He added he doesn't expect the data to be very bad.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was quoted at 109.62 yen late Monday, down 0.12 yen from late Friday in Tokyo and below its late New York level of 110.05 yen on Friday.

South Korean shares closed sharply higher on the back of Wall Street's gains. The main Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 32.60 points, or 3.6 percent, to 943.22.

In Taipei, share prices closed higher, boosted by the rise in technology stocks. The market's key Weighted Stock Price Index rose 65.17 points, or 0.8 percent, to 8,130.28.

In Wellington, New Zealand share prices closed higher in line with regional markets. The benchmark NZSE-40 Capital Index rose 11.56 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,150.32.

In Manila, Philippine shares closed higher on a sharply lower- than-expected local inflation rate for August and on Wall Street's strong gains over the weekend. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 13.38 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,168.47.

In Sydney, Australian share prices closed higher across most sectors on Friday's strong gains in the United States and some renewed buying after the market had succumbed to profit-taking for most of last week. The All Ordinaries Index closed at 2990.1, up 27.7 points, or 0.9 percent.

In Singapore, share prices closed mixed. The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 6.6 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,099.78.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian share prices closed higher on bargain-hunting. The Composite Index, which tracks 100 blue-chip stocks, rose 7.46 percent, or 1.0 percent, to 752.78.

In Bangkok, Thai stock prices closed lower. The Stock Exchange of Thailand index fell 7.04 points, or 1.63 percent, to 424.08.