Asian stocks up on interest-rate hopes
Asian stocks up on interest-rate hopes
SINGAPORE (AFP): Asian stock markets with the notable
exception of Tokyo rose on Thursday on follow-through buying
sparked by the third U.S. rate-cut in seven weeks and hopes that
regional banks will follow suit.
A stronger performance overnight on Wall Street, whose Dow
Jones index closed up 0.6 percent, and hopes that a Japanese
stimulus spending package would work also aided regional gains,
dealers said.
In Singapore, share prices benefited from renewed buying by
institutional investors amid hopes for further interest rate
cuts.
"Personally I think the buying the last two days is overdone.
The run-up has been led largely by banking and property stocks.
We may see some rotational interest towards the weekend," he
said.
The Straits Times Index rose 44.85 points to 1,316.55, while
the broader All-Singapore index rose 9.82 points to 364.19.
In Tokyo, Japanese stocks fell 1.7 percent as investors were
disappointed by fading prospects of a cut in the consumption tax,
brokers said.
Investors mostly stayed on the sidelines before U.S. President
Bill Clinton arrived at mid-afternoon on a two-day visit, brokers
said.
The Nikkei average of 225 leading issues fell 244.77 points to
finish at 14,354.46, wiping off a 1.3-percent 186.23-point gain
in the previous session.
In Hong Kong, share prices rose 1.0 percent on hopes that
local interest rates would ease, but gains were limited with the
market already having factored in a rate cut, dealers said.
"Basically, the market has discounted for sometime the local
interest rate cut," which explained the subdued buying, said Sean
Li, associate director at Amsteel Securities.
The key Hang Seng index gained 99.88 points to close at
10,313.30 -- its highest since May 6 when the index stood at
10,109.14, after gaining 64.73 points in the previous day's
trade.
In Sydney, Australian shares closed up 0.4 percent thanks to a
buoyant Wall Street and strong retail stocks, brokers said.
The Australian Stock Exchange's main indicator, the All
Ordinaries index, closed up 11.9 points at 2,680.6.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian share prices closed barely higher
in a minor technical rebound amid an absence of clear leads to
spur full-fledged buying.
The benchmark Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's composite index
rose 0.24 points to finish at 458.58 while the lesser second
board index gained 0.03 points at 129.53.
In Bangkok, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite
index rose 13.43 points to 358.56 points, while the select SET 50
was up 1.06 points at 26.25.
In Manila, the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index fell
1.76 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 1,819.01 points.
In Taipei, the Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index rose
200.20 points to 7,300.34, following a 0.4-percent decline in the
previous session.
In Seoul, the Korea Stock Exchange composite index closed up
17.32 points at 441.06, off an early low of 422.00.
In Shanghai, the B-share index added 0.07 points to close at
33.77 points, while the A-share index of locally traded stocks
ended down 10.65 points, or 0.8 percent, at 1,355.97 points.
In Auckland, the benchmark NZSE-40 index finished trade down
6.67 points at 1,969.28.