Rating revisions send stocks tumbling

Rating revisions send stocks tumbling

TOKYO (AFP): A flurry of new ratings for Asian currencies,
banks and leading companies took their toll on stock market
activity yesterday, dealers said, pushing most bourses down amid
a lack of strong incentives.

Japanese share prices ended 2.5 percent lower, as concern over
the economic outlook grew following Moody's Investors Service's
downgrading of Fuji Bank, brokers said.

The Philippines was hit by a Standard and Poor's downgrade of
its long-term currency outlook from stable to negative, while
lower Moody's ratings for leading Hong Kong property firms also
dampened sentiment.

The lower ratings affected the region's markets amid continued
financial worries and uncertainty over moves by the Indonesian
leadership to peg the rupiah to a single foreign hard currency.

In Japan, "share prices accelerated their drops in late trade
after Moody's downgrading of Fuji Bank, while dealers moved to
sell as today was the final trading day for deliveries within
February," a Nikko Securities broker said.

The key Nikkei stock average of 225 select issues on the Tokyo
Stock Exchange fell 411.49 points to end at 16,198.00, a shade
higher than the day's low of 16,167.33 points. The Topix index of
all first-section issues fell 19.81 points to close at 1,234.77.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region:

In Hong Kong, share prices closed slightly lower amid mild
profit-taking following the annual results of banking giant HSBC
Holdings plc and the downgrading of the ratings outlook of two
big property developers, dealers said.

The key Hang Seng index lost a mere 1.87 points, or 0.02
percent, to close at 10,683.34, after gaining 0.8 percent in the
previous day's trading ahead of the release of HSBC results.

In Singapore, share prices closed 0.6 percent higher with most
investors sidelined ahead of a budget to be unveiled by the
government in parliament, dealers said.

The Straits Times Industrials index of the Stock Exchange of
Singapore rose 9.84 points to end at 1,561.75 while the broader
All-Singapore index rose 1.60 points to 414.75.

In Kuala Lumpur, share prices rose 1.3 percent following
remarks by government economic adviser Daim Zainuddin that non-
Malays would not be stopped from buying Malay companies, dealers
said.

Under a 1970 affirmative action program known as the New
Economic Policy (NEP), the government is committed to achieving
30 percent ownership in the corporate sector for ethnic Malays
and other indigenous groups.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index gained 9.38
points at 729. 84.

In Bangkok, share market closed 0.9 percent down but off its
lows after investors stepped back into the market buoyed by
Bangkok's latest pledges to the IMF, dealers said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index ended the
day 4.76 points down at 517.06, while the SET 50 index closed
0.51 points weaker at 38. 61.

In Manila, share prices closed 0.7 percent lower after
Standard and Poor's lowered the country's ratings outlook, amid
prospects of government-ordered lower rates for two index issues.

The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index fell 15.22
points to close at 2,100.78 points.

In Seoul, share prices closed slightly lower on the Korea
Stock Exchange as investors locked in profits on sharp gains in
the preceding five trading days, dealers said.

The composite index closed down 2.17 points, or 0.40 percent,
at 540.89.

In Shanghai, B shares, nominally reserved for foreign
investors, soared 6.0 percent on strong domestic institutional
buying despite weakness in Hong Kong shares, dealers said.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange's B share index rose 3.29 points
to close at 58.37 points while the A share index of locally-trade
stocks fell 1.94 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,272.61 points.

In Taipei, stocks dropped 0.9 percent on profit-taking and
higher interbank interest rates, with paper and transportation
sectors posting the biggest losses, dealers said.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index slid 80.54
points to 9,066. 46.

In Sydney, shares rose 0.4 percent amid keen interest by
institutional investors and a strong banking sector encouraged by
the ANZ Banking Group's announcement of substantial job cuts,
brokers said.

The Australian Stock Exchange's key all ordinaries index rose
11.1 points to 2,666.2, off its low of 2,640.2. The All Resources
index closed down 15.2 points at 1,122.9 while the All
Industrials index gained 40.1 points to 4,596. 2.

In Auckland, share prices rose 0.4 percent with some buying
interest emerging for leaders.

The NZSE-40 rose 8.13 points to 2,266.84.