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Asia big two rocket higher
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March 5, 1999: 5:33 a.m. ET
Stronger dollar sends Nikkei surging 5%, Hong Kong surges 3%
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Tokyo ended the week on a high, with blue chips surging more than 5 percent on the back of a weaker yen and the strong performance of the Dow overnight. Hong Kong also made strong gains led by a surge in Hongkong Telecom shares.
Singapore was also significantly higher, but the markets in the rest of Asia put in a mixed and unremarkable performance.
The Nikkei 225 index of leading shares made huge gains Friday, finishing the day 710.55 points higher at 14,894.00, a rise of 5.01 percent.
The main impetus came from the dollar, as well as the recent easing in Japan's monetary policy. The U.S. currency made large gains to reach 122 against the yen, making exports for Japanese firms more profitable. The strong performance of the Dow Thursday also added to the positive sentiment.
The sole casualty among Japanese blue chips was leading trading company, Nissho Iwai, which lost 1.28 percent to close at 77 yen.
Not surprisingly, two high-tech exporters were among the biggest gainers. Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. put on 6.88 percent and 6.65 percent respectively, to finish at 10,100 and 770 yen. The stocks were further boosted by the announcement the two companies will create a joint venture to make a chip for the new version of the popular PlayStation video game machine, Reuters reported.
In Hong Kong, index heavyweight HSBC Holdings and Hongkong Telecom pulled the Hang Seng above the 10,000 mark, seemingly eradicating any concerns about last Wednesday's budget. The leading index put on its own surge in late trading to end up 3.31 percent, 328 points to 10,241.12.
HSBC was up 4 percent at HK$228 ahead of the share going ex-dividend Saturday. Hongkong Telecom, the territory's leading telecom provider, was bolstered by news that the group will stage a news conference next week with Microsoft (MSFT) to announce a "strategic cooperation," Reuters reported. Hongkong Telecom was up 9 percent at HK$14.
In Singapore, traders were more cautious, although further buying of property stocks in anticipation of an interest rate cut helped lift shares. The Strait Times index closed 1.13 percent higher at 1,449.66.
The smaller markets were mixed. The All Ordinaries index in Sydney took its usual cue from Wall Street to finish Friday up 0.6 percent at 2,902.5.
Manila's Composite index closed 0.79 percent higher at 2,013.41, while Korea's blue chips rose 1.11 percent to 538.19. Kuala Lumpur's Composite index closed almost flat, up less than a quarter point at 516.82.
Taipei's leading shares ended Friday slightly lower, down 0.17 percent at 6,383.09. Jakarta's main index lost 5.5 points to close at 388.679. Thailand's main index was down 0.56 percent at 335.26.
-- from staff and wire reports
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