RP shares plunge 3% on interest hike

RP shares plunge 3% on interest hike

MANILA (AFP): Most Asia-Pacific bourses closed lower yesterday, with Philippine share prices suffering another day of losses following an interest rate hike.

Philippine share prices plunged 3 percent as the market panicked in reaction to the rise in interest rates by the Central Bank and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.'s (PLDT) drop on Wall Street.

"The early part of trading was because of PLDT's five-dollar drop and the interest rate rise to 32 percent," said Oliver Plana of Asiasec Equities Inc.

The Central Bank raised overnight interest rates to 32 percent from 30 percent in a bid to attract foreign fund managers to return to the Philippines, dealers said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 78.05 points to 2,511.15. Analysts said the initial selldown caused the index to fall to a low of 2, 475.12.

In Jakarta, share prices closed 1.2 percent lower on consolidation after a spate of heavy profit-taking on recent gains, dealers said.

"Consolidation has been long overdue. The recent rises have been going on for the last couple of weeks without taking a break," an institutional sales manager with a European brokerage said.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 8.987 points at 729. 151.

In Tokyo, Japanese share prices closed 0.3 percent higher, as investors hunted for bargains among selected blue chips, brokers said.

"Although there were no real targets to buy, it seems investors found targets among high-tech and telecom stocks," a Tokyo Securities broker said.

The key Nikkei stock average of 225 select issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 57.61 points to end at 19,754.78 points. The Topix index of all first section issues gained 4.59 points to 1,499.11.

In Hong Kong, share prices rose 0.9 percent on selective bargain hunting on property stocks as concern over the government's land policy was being discounted, dealers said.

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 135.50 points to finish at 14,839.23.

In Singapore, the blue-chip benchmark, Straits Times Industrials index, fell 14.63 points to end at 1,968.34, while the broader All-Singapore index was down 8.32 points to 485.92.

In Sydney, the Australian Stock Exchange's benchmark all ordinaries index closed 1.7 points lower at 2,694.4.

In Kuala Lumpur, the 100-share weighted composite index tumbled 24.72 points to 1,008.52 after having reached a low of 1,002.36.

In Bangkok, the composite Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index closed up 13.62 points at 649.33 points, while the selected SET 50 index gained 1.26 points to finish at 49.19 points.

In Taipei, the Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index increased 67.06 points, or 0.7 percent, to 9,429.74, its highest finish since April 28, 1990.

In Seoul, the composite index closed down 4.22 points at 767.77 on a turnover of 38.3 million shares worth 695.1 billion won ($776 million).

In Shanghai, the composite index of A and B shares fell 0.69 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 1,120.15 points while the selected SSE-30 index finished 21.95 points, or 0.6 percent, lower at 3,692.07 points.

In Auckland, the benchmark NZSE-40 capital index closed down 15.09 points at 2,507.21 with Telecom Corp three cents down at $7.82.