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Nikkei surges 599 points
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May 6, 1999: 5:01 a.m. ET
Tokyo stocks surge on return from holiday break, HK dips
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Japan dominated Asian markets Thursday. Tokyo stocks surged on the market's return from a long holiday, helped by the prospect that the U.S. consumer will continue to drive global growth over the next year.
Asian markets benefited from a late rally on Wall Street after the publication of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book indicated the U.S. economic expansion would continue. The Dow Jones industrial average shrugged off early losses to climb 69.30 points to 10,955.41 while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 49.25 points to 2,534.37. The S&P 500 closed 1.2 percent higher at 1,347.31.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo enjoyed across-the-board gains after being closed for several days as part of the Golden Week holiday. The index closed up 599.08 points or 3.59 percent at 17,300.61.
The prospect of U.S.-driven economic growth boosted manufacturing stocks with Hitachi Corp. up 6.65 percent to 930 yen and electronics giant Canon Inc. climbing 3.77 percent to 3,030 yen.
Fujitsu rose 2.4 percent to 2,095 yen on reports of a possible agreement with Germany's Siemens (FSIE) to produce PCs in Europe.
Nintendo soared 7.64 percent to 11,980 yen after its U.S. unit said sales of its Game Boy machine tripled over the past 12 months.
Domestic stocks benefited from the prospect of a fresh injection of public funds as support grows for a special session of the country's parliament to discuss a supplementary budget. NKK climbed 6.32 percent to 101 yen in heavy trading
Bank stocks also gained ground. Sumitomo benefited from the halo effect of its holding in Goldman Sachs after the U.S. firm's blowout IPO, rising 4.52 percent to 1,689 yen. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi rose 3.46 percent to 1,823 yen on news of plans for a capital increase
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index proved less inspired than Tokyo, falling 0.12 percent to 13,570.24. Blue chips were pushed down by investors pocketing recent gains after last month's 22 percent rise.
The index's bellwether, HSBC Holdings, fell 1.8 percent to HK$279, but most stocks traded within a narrow range.
Telecom shares continued their recent strength, boosted by the government agreement Wednesday to extend a moratorium on new fixed-line licenses until 2003. Hutchison Whampoa gained 1 percent to close at HK$73.75 and Wharf Holdings added 6.4 percent to reach HK$22.10.
The H-share index of China-registered companies climbed 4.35 percent to 481.72 while the red chip index of Hong Kong-registered Chinese trading companies rose 0.92 percent to 1,028.1.
In Sydney, the All Ordinaries dipped 0.1 percent to 3,038.6, with strength in mining and energy stocks outweighed by selling in the industrials sector. Media group News Corp. was flat after reporting third-quarter earnings.
Singapore's Straits Times index inched towards the 2,000 level on the back of strong performances by the hotel and construction sectors, closing at 1,967.79 by midday, a rise of 0.13 percent
In Seoul, the Kospi index climbed 5.1 percent to close at 810.54 after the country's central bank governor said interest rates were unlikely to rise. The main gainer was telecom firm Dacom which rose 14.7 percent to 109,000 on expectations of an ownership battle between two of the largest chaebol, LG and Samsung Group.
The Philippines reached a 20-month high, rising 2.83 percent to 2,516.83 as overseas funds from Asia poured into the country on brighter economic prospects and a slowdown in inflation. Indonesia also posted strong gains, jumping 3 percent to 580.973.
Taiwan dipped 0.16 percent to 7,560.05 but Thailand rose 1.1 percent to 511.92.
-- from staff and wire reports
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