Most Asia-Pacific stock prices end lower
Most Asia-Pacific stock prices end lower
TOKYO (AFP): Most Asia-Pacific stock markets ended lower
yesterday as investors locked in profits on recent gains and
waited for fresh leads to emerge.
Jakarta's bourse was the star performer of the day, putting on
4.4 percent amid heavy trade in leading counters.
U.S. special envoy Walter Mondale held talks in Jakarta with
President Soeharto to press for full implementation of economic
reforms promised by Indonesia to foreign creditors.
He warned against "quick fixes" as Jakarta continued to toy
with the idea of a currency peg, but dealers in the Indonesian
capital said such warnings had been anticipated by the markets
and had no effect.
And in Kuala Lumpur, Japanese vice finance minister Eisuke
Sakakibara pledged that Japan would step up its economic presence
in Asia and said the region was on the track to recovery.
"We will be involved more deeply now. We have done so in the
past but our presence was somewhat lower," he said. "We intend to
increase our presence and co-operate very closely with countries
in the region."
"We are firmly on the recovery track. The situation in
Malaysia and Thailand is improving, Korea has turned around.
Recovery is in sight. We are about to overcome the crisis in the
region," he said.
"We need to stabilize this situation and make the recovery
solid."
The Nikkei stock average of 225 selected issues on the Tokyo
Stock Exchange closed down 96.01 points at 17,168.33.
The Topix index of all first-section issues fell 0.87 points
to 1,296.10, with an estimated 600 million shares changing hands
on the major board against 635.5 million on Monday.
In Hong Kong, share prices closed 0.9 percent higher Tuesday
and off morning lows in range-bound trading as investors
consolidated positions, dealers said.
The key Hang Seng index gained 106.62 points to close at
11,425.46, just off a high of 11,447.59 and well above the low of
11,258.86, on turnover of HK$7. 54 billion (US$874 million).
In Singapore, benchmark stock index closed 1.1 percent lower
as investors took profits on Malaysia-based shares in line with
sentiment in the Kuala Lumpur market.
"So far (Singapore corporate) earnings have not been great. So
people are just waiting for more negative news before they do
anything," a senior dealer with a local bank said.
The Straits Times Industrials index ended 17.76 points lower
at 1,592.88. The more broadly-based All-Singapore index ended
6.59 points lower at 421.52.
In Sydney, the Australian Stock Exchange's main indicator, the
All Ordinaries index, fell 13.5 points to 2,684.4.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's key stock index closed 1.6 percent
lower on renewed concerns over the health of the domestic
financial sector, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's 100-share weighted composite
index fell 12.09 points to end at 733.03.
In Bangkok, Thai shares ended 0.3 percent firmer after
recovering from earlier drops amid a raft of poor corporate
results, dealers said.
Analysts said the market was flooded with results from the
banking and industrial sectors, most showing drastic forex losses
and earnings slumps as a result of the country's economic crisis
in the past eight months.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index closed
1.55 points higher at 539.72. The SET 50 select index ended 0.35
points up at 40.67.
In Manila, Philippine share prices closed 1.0 percent lower as
investors locked in profits on recent gains, analysts said.
The market is "on profit taking mode," said Ted Valte of A and A
Securities Inc.
The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index shed 21.706
points to close at 2,258.86 points.
In Seoul, share prices reversed early gains and closed 0.6
percent down on the Korea Stock Exchange as institutional
investors took profits towards the close, dealers said.
The composite index closed down 3.46 points at 570.89, off a
low of 567.55 and a high of 591.70.
In Taipei, Taiwan stocks dipped 0.7 percent as cautious
investors took to the sidelines ahead of corporate results to be
released this week, brokers said.
The Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index dropped 65.26
points to 9, 211.83.
In Shanghai, the B share index lost 1.30 points to close at
57.77 points while the A share index of locally-traded stocks
ended up 15.10 points, or 1.2 percent, at 1,265.98 points.
In Auckland, New Zealand stocks climbed 0.5 percent Tuesday on
light turnover of NZ$55.6 million (US$32.3 million).
The NZSE-40 rose 10.69 points to 2,299.09 with Brierley
Investments Ltd lifting one cent to 1.15 dollars.