|
Asia pulled back by yen
|
 |
September 10, 1999: 5:41 a.m. ET
Tokyo, HK close narrowly ahead after turbulent session dominated by BoJ intervention
|
LONDON (CNNfn) - Asian markets posted modest gains in a see-saw session Friday dominated by sharp swings in the currency markets following Bank of Japan intervention.
By the end of the day, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore closed with marginal gains. Singapore continued its recent strong run.
The yen's rise to a three-year high against the dollar sent the Bank of Japan into the currency markets, selling yen for dollars. The move pushed the yen back above 109 against the dollar after hitting a session low of 107.70. The euro also recovered to 114.90 off a record low of 113.45 yen.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 in Tokyo closed up 33.5 points or 0.2 percent at 17,711.02 after a turbulent session. Construction and telecom rose while export-sensitive shares, particularly in the auto sector suffered early losses. The Nikkei added just 0.45 percent for the week.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was also volatile, testing the 14,000 level before losing those gains to close up just 1 point at 13,855.9. The index advanced 5.1 percent from last Friday's close.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index clung to early gains to close up 4 points or 0.15 percent at 2,131.38 a rise of 1.8 percent during the week.
In Seoul, the benchmark Kospi index closed up 1.2 percent at 961.98 to post a healthy 5.6 percent advance for the week.
Tokyo opened lower after Thursday's modest gains, with export-orientated stocks being hit by the yen's continuing surge. However, construction and telecom shares powered the index in later trade on improved economic prospects following the surprise rise in second-quarter GDP.
NEC was the most active stock on the Nikkei, surging 12.4 percent after reports that it would institute a broad restructuring plan to boost profitability.
Obayashi, a major construction firm, added 3.5 percent and home builder Setisui climbed 3.6 percent.
The yen's initial rise hit auto stocks, with Toyota losing 2 percent while Honda closed down 0.8 percent. Mazda bucked the trend with a modest 0.2 percent rise.
Among the banks, Sumitomo was off 1.6 percent and Sanwa lost 1 percent.
Hong Kong was pulled back after briefly breaching the 14,000 barrier as investors took profits after the recent rally in tech stocks. Pacific Century CyberWorks was again the most actively-traded stock, sliding 5.5 percent from its recent highs.
Cable & Wireless HK recovered from a 1.6 percent deficit to end off just 0.5 percent after climbing sharply Thursday on the announcement of a strategic alliance with Cisco Systems (CSCO).
New World Development advanced 2.3 percent while its tech spin-off, New World Cyberspace jumped more than 7 percent amid expectation of announcements linked to its Internet business.
Among the heavyweights, HSBC was off 0.5 percent, China Telecom gained 2 percent and Citic Pacific was flat.
In Singapore, media group Singapore Press Holdings advanced 1.7 percent. Datacraft led the gainers with an 9.8 percent rise while property shares also staged a comeback, with City Development adding 1 percent.
DBS Bank retreated from its recent record highs, off 3.4 percent as did Singapore Airlines, off 2.4 percent.
Sydney's All Ordinaries closed narrowly lower as continuing gains in resource stocks was canceled out by a sharp slide in banking stocks. The index ended off 3.7 points at 3,004.4, though managed a 0.7 percent gain for the week.
The JSX index in Jakarta rebounded sharply after a turbulent week's trade in which many overseas funds have pulled out of the country because of the violence in East Timor. The index built on Thursday's 3.3 percent gain to close up 4.6 percent at 562.78, but unchanged from last Friday's close.
Taipei also moved ahead, with a 1.7 percent advance to close at 8,161.46, and the Set in Bangkok added 0.6 percent to end at 432.96.
The KLSE Composite in Kuala Lumpur was off 1.6 percent at 739.17 while the PHS in Manila fell sharply for the second straight session, down 1.6 percent to close at 2,099.44.
-- from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
