Monetary crisis still haunts Malaysian shares

Monetary crisis still haunts Malaysian shares

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Asia-Pacific share prices ended mixed yesterday as currency turmoil continued to dog Southeast Asian markets and dampen sentiment elsewhere.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's key index tumbled 3 percent on renewed concerns over the economy and a weak ringgit, while Manila share prices fell 3.1 percent on political uncertainty and a weakening peso.

Tokyo was the biggest gainer among regional bourses yesterday, rising 1.4 percent, while Hong Kong resumed trading after a holiday the previous day, ending slightly higher.

In Kuala Lumpur, a dealer with a local brokerage said: "There was a new wave of foreign selling due to renewed concerns over the economy and the ringgit. Investors for the major part were sidelined ahead of the budget next month."

The KLSE-100 fell 24.44 points to 786.68, breaching the psychological 800-point level, while the lesser second board index eased 6.25 points, or 1. 5 percent, to 410.54.

In Hong Kong, share prices rose slightly on late selective buying in post-holiday trading in the absence of fresh leads, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index gained a mere 8.26 points, or 0.06 percent, to finish at 14,419.45.

In Tokyo, Japanese share prices closed 1.4 percent higher, supported by bargain-hunting and purchases from pension funds, brokers said.

The key Nikkei stock average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 246.82 points to end the session at 17,930.09, near its high of 17,981.50 touched near the close.

The broader Topix index of all first section issues was up 11. 12 to close at 1,385.09.

In Singapore, blue-chip stocks ended 0.7 percent lower as the market was affected by bearish sentiment prevailing in neighboring Malaysia.

The Stock Exchange of Singapore's blue-chip benchmark, the Straits Times Industrial index, dipped 14.15 points, to 1,896.09. The broader All-Singapore index fell 4.12 points to 458.06.

Sydney, Australian share prices gained 0.6 percent with investors showing strong support for the banking sector, brokers said.

The Australian Stock Exchange's main indicator, the all ordinaries index, closed 17 points higher at 2,696.3. The all industrials index rose 47.2 points to 4,442.6 points while the all resources index shed 9.1 points to 1, 321.2.

In Bangkok, Thai share prices closed up 0.8 percent on speculative buying, finding support from International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Michel Camdessus' comments and a stronger baht, dealers said.

The key composite Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index was up 4.25 points at 521.65, while the selected SET 50 index finished up 0.51 points at 38.68.

In Manila, Philippine share prices plummeted 3.1 percent as fears over political uncertainty were compounded by a sell-off on news that a local consumer electronics firm had defaulted on bank loans.

"Investors fear there could be more companies filing for bankruptcies amid the worsening currency crisis," Paribas Asia Equity analyst Ed Bancod said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 64.11 points to 2,009.85.

In Seoul, share prices closed 0.2 percent higher on the Korea Stock Exchange as the market lost its earlier gains on institutional and foreign selling in cyclical large-capital shares towards the close, dealers said.

The composite index closed up 1.65 points at 701.39.

In Shanghai, the B shares, nominally reserved for foreign investors, fell 2.2 percent affected by low gains in Hong Kong and the close of the Communist Party congress, analysts said.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange's B share index dropped 1.8 points to close at 80.92 points. The A share index of domestically- traded shares rose 6.02 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 1,223.15 points.

In Taipei, the Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index moved up 53.78 points to 9, 141.33.

In Auckland, the New Zealand shares market closed 0.6 percent higher after late selling canceled early gains following a positive Reserve Bank outlook report, analysts said.

The Reserve Bank "basically came out and said they would sanction the current easing (in monetary conditions)," said Tim Koller at Merrill Lynch.

The NZSE-40 capital index closed 14.77 points higher at 2,553.75.