Asian marts mixed in cautious Friday trade

Asian marts mixed in cautious Friday trade

TOKYO (AFP): Asian stock markets closed mixed Friday as cautious investors locked in profits ahead of the week-end and waited for signals from Wall Street, dealers said.

Gains or losses on regional bourses were limited, with investors searching for direction in the absence of concrete leads.

Tokyo's Nikkei slipped back 1.1 percent but Hong's Hang Seng gained 1.6 percent.

Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.3 percent, the Kuala Lumpur composite dipped 0.2 percent and Sydney's All Ordinaries ended barely lower.

The Jakarta composite tumbled 1.1 percent but its Manila counterpart gained 2.0 percent while Bangkok was closed for a holiday. The Seoul composite fell 1.0 percent and the Taiwan weighted price index rose 1.0 percent.

Tokyo stocks fell in profit-taking after a five-day winning streak leading up to the listing of the world's biggest mobile telephone operator NTT DoCoMo Thursday, brokers said.

"Gains were eroded by profit taking, as well as the unwinding of cross shareholdings," Dai-Ichi Securities strategist Mitsuru Nagano said, adding that selling pressure was strong above 14,000 points on the Nikkei index.

The Nikkei average of 225 leading issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 150.86 points to finish at 14,144.70 after a 1,300- point advance in the past five days.

The Topix index of all issues on the first section was down 6.14 points at 1,068.15. Turnover on the major board totaled an estimated 468 million shares against the previous day's 868.53 million shares.

The troubled Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan Ltd. applied to come under state control but the move had no immediate impact on the market, brokers said.

The bank, which was the volume leader in the previous six trading days, closed Thursday at two yen, 48 yen below its par value and way below its 1998 high of 373 yen.

"Stabilization of the financial system is a necessary factor to stem share price declines," Nagano said, "while an economic recovery will be a sufficient factor to achieve a strong share price rally."

Even NTT DoCoMo reeled under profit-taking, the day after it made a robust debut by surging 19.2 percent from its initial offer price to close at 4.65 million yen in the world's largest initial public offering. It fell back 4.3 percent to 4.45 million yen.

In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng index gained 159.17 points to close at 9,817.75, after losing a mere 3.54 points in the previous day's trade.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index closed 3.91 points lower to 1,113.59, while the broader All-Singapore index shed 0.12 points to end at 326.80.

In Kuala Lumpur, the 100-share composite index fell 1.84 points to end at 419.72.

In Sydney, the Australian Stock Exchange's key All Ordinaries index finished 1.3 points lower at 2,543.9.

In Manila, the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index rose 29.36 points to close at 1,523.98 points.

In Seoul, the Korea Stock Exchange composite index closed down 3.69 points at 378.83, off a low of 374.14.

In Taipei, the Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index rose 67.67 points to 7,055.46, following a 0.5 percent decline in the previous session.

In Shanghai, B-share index added 0.16 points to finish at 35.24 points, while the A-share index of locally traded stocks closed 1.37 points, or 0.1 percent, higher at 1,292.87 points.

In Auckland, New Zealand stocks edged up 0.1 percent in lethargic week-end trade.

The NZSE-40 index was up 1.37 points to 1843.45.