Asian stock markets close generally lower

Asian stock markets close generally lower

HONG KONG (AP): Asian stock markets closed generally lower yesterday, with the key index in Seoul tumbling 6.8 percent to a 11-year low on fears of labor unrest in South Korea.

Traders said South Korean shares were also pushed down after the U.S. dollar rose to a nearly seven-year high against the yen following a report that U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin would accept a weaker yen.

With a weaker yen, South Korean companies would lose their price competitiveness against their Japanese rivals in global markets.

The militant Korea Confederation of Trade Unions reiterated earlier Monday that it would go ahead with a nationwide strike Wednesday.

The strike is in response to the number of jobless more than doubling to 1.5 million over the past months. The confederation plans to start with walkouts by auto, shipbuilding and other metal workers.

Layoffs aimed at restructuring South Korea's inefficient industries are a key condition of the International Monetary Fund, which bailed out the country's economy late last year.

The main Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 24.15 points to 331.90, its lowest close since 330.11 on Feb. 26, 1987.

In Tokyo, the dollar was trading at 137.14 yen in late afternoon, up 1.17 yen from late Friday in Tokyo and also above its late New York rate of 135.90 yen Friday.

The latest issue of U.S. News and World Report magazine said in a brief column that Rubin would be willing to let the yen weaken to 140 or even 150 to the dollar.

That set off a rush to buy dollars, even though Rubin reiterated Sunday that he continues to share Japan's concerns over weakness in the yen and that U.S. dollar policy remains "absolutely unchanged."

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 18.53 points, or 0.12 percent, closing at 15,783.12, because of the weakening yen.

Elsewhere:

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian share prices closed lower as investors waited for more details on the government's decision to set up a special agency to take over the non-performing loans and assets of banking institutions. The Composite Index fell 6.68 points, or 1.2 percent, to 570.55.

In Taipei, share prices closed lower, pushed down by selling in technology stocks. The market's key Weighted Stock Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange fell 70.82 points, or 0.8 percent, to 8,314.09.

In Hong Kong, share prices closed generally mixed, with the market showing little reaction to the territory's first legislative election under Chinese rule. The Hang Seng Index fell 11.45 points, or 0.1 percent, to 9,544.53.

In Manila, Philippine shares closed lower in lackluster trading, with investors holding back because of regional worries focusing on Indonesia and fears of poor first-quarter growth data due later this week. The 30-share Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 14.77 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,124.48.

In Singapore, share prices closed mixed as institutional investors stayed away from the market. The benchmark Straits Times Industrial Index edged up 0.97 point to 1,314.64.

In Bangkok, Thai share prices closed higher after Parliament passed a series of decrees to revitalize the country's ailing finance industry. The Stock Exchange of Thailand index rose 3.08 points, or 0.8 percent, to 358.90.

In New Zealand, share prices closed lower, with brokers saying trading was moderate ahead of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's quarterly monetary policy statement, due Tuesday. The NZSE-40 Capital Index fell 19.06 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,218.65.

In Australia, share prices closed slightly higher. The All Ordinaries Index rose 1.9 points to 2,727.8.