Manila, Bangkok big losers in Asian market

Manila, Bangkok big losers in Asian market

HONG KONG (Reuter): Asian stock markets again failed to take their lead from Wall Street yesterday with most bourses recording losses, but the closely-watched Tokyo index gained slightly.

Manila and Bangkok were the most bearish of the indices with Thai finance minister Surakiart Sathirathai attributing the local plunge to world currency market volatility.

Thai stocks ended down 1.59 percent at their lowest since April 27 after a day of selling by mainly foreign investors of banking stocks, brokers said. The index finished off 19.31 points at 1192.47.

Persistent selling by foreign investors in large capitalized stocks weighed down Manila share prices by 1.91 percent. The key index closed 47.06 points lower at 2,414.69.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slid 85.98 points, or 0.91 percent, to end at 9,411.85, against an intraday low of 9,388.18.

Australia's All Ordinaries index was 5.50 points lower, or 0.26 percent, at 2126.20.

The Tokyo market was bullish despite the downward trend elsewhere, with the 225-share Nikkei average finishing at 17,843.56, up 22.52 points or 0.13 percent from its Thursday close.

"The Nikkei is going to stay between 17,500 and 18,000 in the near future," said Michio Sugita, head of stock trading at Deutsche Bank Capital Markets.

The Jakarta composite index fell 6.82 points, or 1.42 percent, to close at 474.59 after touching the day's low at 468.26.

Banking and property stocks led the broad selling which pressured the key Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) Composite index to a weaker close.

The Composite Index sank 4.47 points to 899.47, its lowest level since January this year.

In Seoul, the composite stock closed 4.96 points lower at 965.95, off a day low of 960.36. But gainers led losers by 457 to 360.

Shanghai's B share market was weaker in slow trading. The B index shed 0.259 points, or 0.51 percent, to 50.938 and the A index edged up 0.157 points, or 0.02 percent, to 741.628 points.

Singapore shares ended mostly weaker but United Pulp and Paper bucked the trend.

The Straits Times Industrial index closed down 18.17 points to 2,071.74 while the UOB OTC index for Malaysian shares ended down 4.33 points to 987.69. Volume was 185 million with 237 losers against 90 gainers.

Taiwan's weighted index, which rose to 4,742.60 at one stage, slipped 22.52 points or 0.48 percent to close at 4,694.96.

The Financial Times-Stock Exchange index of 100 leading British shares was down 21.0 points at 3,520.6.

In Paris, the CAC-40 share index dropped 15.20 to 1,837.43.

The 30-share DAX in Frankfurt was down 21.16 at 2,168.66.