Asian marts surge on foreign funds buying

Asian marts surge on foreign funds buying

HONG KONG (Reuter): Led by Hong Kong, Seoul and Bangkok, stock markets across Asia surged yesterday on buying by foreign funds and on hopes of a rate cut in the United States, brokers said.

The surge, and high turnovers in key markets, came despite the holiday in Japan, where markets were closed to observe Respect for the Elderly Day.

Shares in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Manila and Bombay also closed higher. Jakarta was the odd one out, with its market falling a scant 0.02 percent to 495.32 points.

Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng Index climbed 117.30 points, or 1.21 percent, to close at the intraday high of 9,797.40. Turnover was HK$6.85 billion (US$886.16 million), the heaviest since June 1.

"There's substantial profit taking as we neared the year high (at 9,821), but the inflow of liquidity is still very strong and depending on the U.S.'s moves the market should rise further next week," said Priscilla Ng of OCBC Securities.

Thai stocks surged on the most active day in nearly two months as market confidence grew along with trading volumes, brokers said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index advanced 22.16 points, or 1.68 percent, to 1,337.62 on 10.7 billion baht ($428 million) turnover, the busiest day since July 19.

Seoul shares closed at a nine-month high on news that the government's tax scheme could favor investment in stocks, brokers said.

The composite index surged 2.06 percent, or 19.92 points, to close at 985.64, the highest closing level since January 12 when it reached 1,000.77.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index closed up 10.48 points to a provisional 3,371.66. The 100-stock National Index gained 6.54 to close at a provisional 1,552.61.

The key Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's Composite Index ended up 0.33 points at 993.53 points.

Manila shares closed higher, with the index breaking the 2,750 resistance level on the strength of market heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone overnight on Wall Street, brokers said.

The index was up 25.94 points to 2,757.43.

Singapore shares closed higher on institutional nibbling. Dealers said funds bought blue chips selectively in anticipation of lower interest rates in Singapore and the United States.

The 30-share Straits Times Industrials Index gained 9.78 points to 2,139.67. Volume was 199.98 million shares. Rises led falls by 237 to 81.

The All Ordinaries Index in Sydney rose 14.8 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,165.70.

Taiwan's index ended up 39.51 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,995.53.

In London, the FTSE 100 index was up 20.1 points, or 0.56 percent, at 3,585.5.

Frankfurt's DAX index was up 13.72 points, or 0.60 percent, at 2,313.63.

The CAC-40 index in Paris was up 13.80 points at 1,906.17

In New York, Blue-chip stocks closed at a record high for the third day in a row Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up a solid 36.28 points at 4,801.80, beating Wednesday's record close of 4,765.52.