Asian markets still wary over U.S. rates

Asian markets still wary over U.S. rates

HONG KONG (AFP): Asian markets closed yesterday with trade marked by bargain hunting after losses earlier in the week triggered by a fall on Wall Street and caution over fears of a change in U.S. interest rates.

In Jakarta, share prices closed 0.6 percent lower yesterday on continued selling and concerns over changes in U.S. interest rates, dealers said.

"We are seeing no fresh incentives to ease the selling pressures and even after this entire week of sell-offs, there is still no sign of any rebound," an institutional sales representative with a Hong Kong brokerage said.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 4.19 points at 637. 43.

In Tokyo, share prices closed 1.5 percent lower yesterday, with the key market gauge hit by futures-linked arbitrage selling and sell-offs in finance, construction and retail sectors, brokers said.

The Nikkei stock average of 225 selected issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 268.72 points to end the session at 17,860.59 points, while the broader Topix index of all first section issues fell 10.88 points to 1, 369.82.

In Hong Kong, share prices rose 1.2 percent on bargain hunting from sharp falls yesterday and despite a weaker U.S. market, dealers said.

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index gained 149.42 points to finish at 12,204.59.

In Singapore, blue-chip stocks ended 0.1 percent lower yesterday amid uncertainty over the direction of Wall Street, dealers said.

The Stock Exchange of Singapore's blue-chip benchmark, Straits Times Industrials index, fell 2.30 points to end at 2,075.78 while the broader All-Singapore index gained 3.78 points to 514.48.

In Sydney, investors hunting for bargains in the wake of the market slump earlier this week helped to push Australian shares 0.4 percent higher yesterday.

The Australian Stock Exchange's barometer, the all ordinaries index, rose 8.5 points to close at 2,369.5. The all industrials index finished 15 points higher at 3,704.3 while the all resources index rose 3.2 points to 1, 343.4.

In Kuala Lumpur, key stock index ended 1.4 percent lower yesterday as late institutional buying emerged to prevent further falls.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's 100-share weighted composite index dipped 15.73 points to 1,136.78, after reaching an intra- day low of 1,113.47. The lesser second board index shed 10.93 points, or 1.8 percent, to 607.82.

In Manila, share prices fell 1.4 percent yesterday reflecting the fall of the Dow Jones and during a day that was interrupted by a power failure on one of the Manila bourse's trading floors.

The Philippine Stock Exchange fell 44.18 points to 3,060.59.

In Seoul, share prices rebounded 1.3 percent on the Korea Stock Exchange yesterday with bargain hunting focused on petrochemicals and steel shares on improving business prospects, dealers said.

The composite index closed up 8.68 points at 687.42.

In Bangkok, the broad-based Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index increased 8.08 points to 714.09 points, while the SET-50 index of selected counters closed 0. 87 points higher at 53.55 points.

The Thai market will be closed on Monday for a holiday.

In Taipei, market closed for public holiday.

In Wellington, the New Zealand 40-share capital index closed down 0.38 points at 2,225.53.

In Shanghai, B stock exchange's B share index rose 0.22 points to close at 73.49 points. The A share index of domestically- traded shares rose 15.94 points, or 1.2 percent, to close at 1,321.66.