Share prices surge in Tokyo

TOKYO (Agencies): Share prices surged yesterday as political confusion appeared to ease after coalition leaders vowed to work together in selecting a successor to Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa.

The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues in the first section on the Tokyo Stock Exchange jumped 412.08 points or 2.1 percent to 20,060.41 points after falling 249.75 points the previous day.

It was the first time since March 24 that the key index topped the psychologically important 20,000 level.

The broader-based Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues in the section gained 18.17 points to 1,618.89 points following Tuesday's 13.33 point decline.

Brokers said they welcomed signs of a breakthrough in the political crisis after leaders of the seven-party coalition committed themselves to maintaining the coalition framework and resumed discussion over a successor to Hosokawa.

The brokers said they were also cheered by reports that Foreign Minister Tsutomu Hata was expected to succeed Hosokawa, who offered to resign last week over financial scandals.

In Hong Kong, stocks ended a volatile day barely changed after profit-taking put a huge dent in a strong opening rally which drove the blue chip index up more than 167 points, brokers said.

The Hang Seng index closed up 15.67 points, or 0.16 percent, at 9,753.76 after dipping briefly into negative territory in late trade.

In Singapore, share prices turned slightly lower after notching impressive gains since Monday.

The 30-share Straits Times Industrials index eased 2.0 points to end at 2,231.66 after hitting an intra-day high of 2,245.81. The index has risen over 100 points since Monday.

In Seoul, the composite index of the Exchange edged up 1.46 points to close the day at 882.33 points. Losers, however, outnumbered gainers 457 to 251 issues while prices marked time for 147 others.

In London, the blue-chip Financial Times Stock Exchange 100- share index was at 3,156.4, down 2.7 points from the previous close. The narrower Financial Times 30 index was at 2,489.2, down 1.5 points.

In Paris, share prices drifted lower after a promising start as the market waited for the US statistics and the Bundesbank meeting. The CAC 40 index dipped 0.19 percent to 2,144.48 points, after rising 0.05 percent on opening.

In New York, stocks retreated in cautious trading Tuesday as a sell-off in technology issues depressed the rest of the market despite firm bond prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average, which rebounded 14.57 points Monday, fell back 7.14 points to 3681.69.

The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 1.10 to 248.35, while Standard & Poor's 500-stock index slipped 2.30 to 447.57.