Tokyo and Hong Kong post modest gains
Tokyo and Hong Kong post modest gains
HONG KONG (Agencies): Tokyo and Hong Kong shares posted modest gains yesterday Friday but several other Asian bourses moved more dramatically.
Thailand, Taiwan, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur added more than one percent but Seoul and Bombay were heavy losers, the Indian market down 2.50 percent on disappointing company results.
Brokers said Tokyo trading was cautious and mostly directionless ahead of next Wednesday's Bank of Japan "tankan" survey of business sentiment.
The key Nikkei 225 average was up 72.77 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 21,216.11, its highest level for the day. Aggressive investor buying, which lifted the Nikkei average earlier this week, withered and brokers expect range-bound trade next week, brokers said.
In Jakarta, share prices closed 1.6 percent higher on Friday in active trade on the back of a technical rebound of selective heavyweight stocks and rumor-driven buying of second tier stocks by local investors.
"The market was hectic. Some counters rebounded on technical (reasons) but there was some crazy buying on the back of wild rumors, including those over Barito Pacific, Matahari and Hero," said a dealer with a major foreign brokerage.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index rose 9.88 points at 612.86 points.
The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's 100-share weighted composite index surged 12.24 points to 1,217.96. The second board fell 12.15 points, or two percent, to 610.74.
In Hong Kong, share prices rose 0.1 percent on selective buying on conglomerates with rental office properties, dealers said.
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index gained 17.23 points to finish at 13,116.79.
In Singapore, blue-chip share prices closed marginally lower on mild profit-taking as institutional investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the weekend.
The Stock Exchange of Singapore's blue-chip barometer, the Straits Times Industrials index, ended 2.94 points, or 0.1 percent, lower at 2,194.75 as it continued to meet resistance at the 2,200-point level.
In Thailand, the SET Index closed 14.95 points up, or 1.56 percent, to 970.30.
Taiwan's weighted index closed 68.90 points higher at 6,761.39, its highest finish since January 11, 1995.
Bombay, the benchmark stocks index dropped 75.83 points to a provisional close of 2967.47.
In London, the Financial Times-Stock Exchange index of 100 leading British shares was up 20.4 points at 3,974.2.
In Paris, the CAC-40 share index was down 4.48 points at 2,229.09.
In New York, stocks edged lower Thursday as investors took profits, bonds fell and the dollar ended mixed.
After setting November's 10th record high on Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 11.55 points to 6,418.47. In the broader market, advancing issues edged declines, 1,198 to 1,195, on heavy volume of about 468.7 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.