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Nikkei inches higher
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June 24, 1999: 6:05 a.m. ET
U.S. rate jitters hit Hong Kong but Nikkei manages modest gains
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LONDON LONDON (CNNfn) - Asian markets closed mixed Thursday as worries that U.S. rates might rise more than anticipated played on some markets. Tokyo blue chips managed to close slightly higher but the Hong Kong stocks fell 1.4 percent.
The Nikkei 225 finished the session 41.57 points higher at 17,628.32, a rise of 0.24 percent.
Investors registered some discomfort at the prospect of a larger-than-anticipated rate rise in the U.S., after a leading think-tank was rumored to have reported that the Federal Reserve board next week would hike the cost of borrowing by a half a percentage point, instead of the anticipated quarter point.
Mixed signals from Wall Street also clouded the picture, as the Dow Jones industrial average lost 54.77 points to 10,666.86. The Nasdaq Composite, in contrast, gained 17.87 points to end at 2,598.13. The S&P 500 index lost 2.82 to 1,333.06.
The tech rally on Wall Street helped boost Tokyo counterparts, with corporate news further enhancing specific stocks.
Japanese Internet play Softbank surged more than 9 percent to close at 23,970 yen after it announced Thursday that it was setting up Internet-related investment funds in the U.S. and Japan.
Electronics giant Hitachi surged almost 5.9 percent to 1,100 yen, after it unveiled a broad alliance with rival NEC Corp. at the market close Wednesday, including the possible joint development of a new DRAM chip.
U.S. rate jitters hit other markets harder, although the region was mixed. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong finished the session firmly in the red, down 1.4 percent at 13,780.12, a fall of 195.92 points.
Singapore in contrast continued its surge from Wednesday, although it shed some of its earlier gains in late trade. The Straits Times index closed in record territory again having closed at a new high in the previous session. The index touched a new intra-day high of 2,213.34, before falling back to 2,191.73 by the end of the session, a gain of 1.12 percent.
The All Ordinaries index in Sydney closed down almost 1 percent, or 28.6 points, at 2,962.0, with only gold-related stocks bucking the selling pressures as optimism about the price of precious metals rose.
South Korea's Kospi index finally lost its recent winning ways, to close down 1.27 percent at 877.30.
Earlier, Philippine blue chips put in a sound performance to end 1.12 percent higher at 2,498.53, while Taiwan's Weighted index gained almost 100 points, or 1.14 percent, to end at 8,589.31.
Kuala Lumpur's Composite index held onto most of its gains to close 0.87 percent higher at 801.72, while Bangkok's Set index finished at 543.97, up 0.55 percent. Jakarta's blue chips were marked down heavily, however, down 2.65 percent at 682.119.
-- from staff and wire reports
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