Asia's major markets crawl back

Asia's major markets crawl back

HONG KONG (AFP): Asian markets performed a slight rebound yesterday after plummeting on Wall Street's lead the previous day, brokers said.

Investors in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore pushed up the markets but remained cautious on fears of Wall Street further "losing steam," a broker said.

Markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines ended lower yesterday on poor market sentiment, while Shanghai was also lower on thin trading.

In Jakarta, share prices closed 0.2 percent lower yesterday as political concerns kept investors cautious and amid a lack of incentives, dealers said.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 1.13 points at 650. 88 points.

In Tokyo, share prices rebounded yesterday with the key barometer closing 0.9 percent higher on bargain-hunting and futures-led buying after the market reeled under the Japanese yen's rally against the U.S. dollar.

The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 leading issues rose 167.71 points to finish at 18,037.30 for the first daily gain in five sessions.

In Hong Kong, share prices gained 0.5 percent in cautious trading yesterday on the heels of Wall Street gains, dealers said.

"With no fresh incentives, the market is trading behind Dow Jones," said Hay Woo, a dealer with Sassoon Securities.

The key Hang Seng Index rose 62.13 points to finish at 12,136.32, after losing 3.67 percent, or 460.13 points, to 12,074. 19 on Tuesday -- its biggest one-day decline since March 11, 1996.

In Singapore, blue-chip stock index ended 0.7 percent higher yesterday on foreign buying of largely government-linked counters.

The Stock Exchange of Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Industrials index rose 15.14 points to end at 2,089.81 while the broader All-Singapore index added 2.42 points to 518.46.

In Sydney, the Australian Stock Exchange's key barometer, the all ordinaries index, finished 3.0 points higher at 2,355.2.

In Kuala Lumpur, the stock Exchange's 100-share weighted composite index fell 6.7 points to 1,181.07. The lesser second board index dipped 13.29 points, or two percent, to 636.43.

In Bangkok, the Stock Exchange of Thailand broad-based index climbed 21.90 points to 716.64 points. The SET-50 index of selected counters closed 2.14 points higher at 716.64 points.

In Seoul, share prices closed 0.9 percent higher on the Korea Stock Exchange Wednesday, with core blue chips attracting buying in the run-up to an expansion of the foreign shareholding limit on May 1, dealers said.

In Wellington, the stock Exchange's key capital 40-share index rose 10.78 points to 2,218.26.

In Taipei, the stock exchange weighted price index advanced 40.48 points to 8, 203.89.

In Manila, share prices fell 0.3 percent yesterday on sluggish trade in the absence of news to move the market, analysts said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange fell 9.58 points to 3,162.21.

In Shanghai: the stock exchange's B share index fell 0.12 points to close at 73.06 points. The A share index of domestically-traded shares fell 7.66 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,292.73.