Seoul shares plunge, other Asian markets quiet

Seoul shares plunge, other Asian markets quiet

HONG KONG (Reuter): Panic selling over a political slush fund scandal brought down share prices in Seoul yesterday but trade was lackluster elsewhere in Asia.

Stock exchanges were closed for holidays in Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand.

Some Indian bourses held limited "moorat" or auspicious trading as part of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

South Korean shares plunged 2.31 percent on allegations that former president Roh Tae-woo used a 48.5 billion won (US$63 million) political slush fund managed by a top security aide.

The composite index lost 23.11 points to 976.39.

Hong Kong shares closed slightly weaker after bouncing back from earlier losses, but brokers said trade was thin due to holidays in the region and after recent strong gains.

The Hang Seng Index fell 14.71 points or 0.15 percent to 9,880.53, off a low of 9,796.03.

Tokyo stocks ended flat after being sandwiched between arbitrage-linked selling and buying by financial institutions. Brokers said the weak dollar kept trade thin.

The 225-share Nikkei average eased 1.09 points or 0.01 percent to 18,156.24 after falling as low as 18,024.91.

Australian shares ended weaker as investors were kept quiet by a lack of leads, lower bonds and metals prices, and Wall Street's losses on Friday. The All Ordinaries index was 17.5 points or 0.83 percent lower at 2,089.3.

The Jakarta and Manila bourses also had small losses.

Bargain-hunting lifted share prices in Taipei but brokers said light turnover of T$19.46 billion ($723 million) showed that political concerns had not entirely receded.

The index rose 37.46 points or 0.76 percent to 4,975.44. Some investors fear the meeting between U.S. President Bill Clinton and China's President Jiang Zemin today will yield a negative result for Taiwan, brokers said.

Share prices fell sharply in early trading in London and in Paris because of uncertainty on currency and bond markets and in response to a fall on Wall Street late on Friday.

In London prices fell by 30.1 percent or by 0.8 percent to 3,521.3 and gilt-edged stock fell by up to three quarters of a point.

In Paris, shares fell by 1.1 percent to 1,721.77 points on the CAC 40 index.

Sentiment was depressed by a political crisis in Italy and by concern about the state of the French budget deficit.

In London an announcement that British gross domestic product had risen by 0.5 percent in the third quarter from the figure for the first quarter, pointing to an annual rate of growth of 2.4 percent, did not boost the stock market. The figures were in line with forecasts by analysts.