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Tokyo at 2-year closing high
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January 4, 2000: 5:43 a.m. ET
Japanese stocks follow Nasdaq’s gain; Hong Kong, Singapore tumble
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Tokyo’s blue chips powered to their highest close in more than two years Tuesday, breaching the 19,000 mark as overnight gains on the U.S. Nasdaq lifted spirits on the index's first trading day of 2000. But Hong Kong headed in the opposite direction, weighed down by heavy losses on another key U.S. gauge, the Dow Jones industrial average.
Among other major markets in the minus column, Singapore's benchmark index lost more than 2 percent, while Australian shares closed down just under 1 percent amid speculation that U.S. interest rates may soon be in for a hike.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 68.52 points or 0.36 percent to 19,002.86, ending above the closely watched 19,000 mark for the first time since Aug. 21, 1997. March Nikkei futures were up 160 points at 18,990 after the half-day session. Wednesday will be Tokyo’s first full trading day for the year.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng retreated sharply to close down 296.81 points, or 1.7 percent, at 17,072.82. Volume was an active HK$18.93 billion ($2.44 billion), up from around HK$18.03 billion Monday.
Local traders attributed the easing to an overnight slide on the Dow Jones industrial average, which ended the first trading day of the New Year 1.2 percent lower at 11,357.51. They preferred to use the term "correction" to describe the downturn.
In Tokyo, by contrast, high-tech and telecommunications shares built on recent rallies after the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.5 percent Tuesday to a record 4,131.15.
Technology issues that gained late last year advanced in Tuesday's inaugural session of the millennium. NEC Corp. romped up 5.3 percent to 2,565 yen and electronic parts maker TDK Corp. added 6.2 percent to 14,990 yen. High-flying Internet investor Softbank Corp. rallied 5.3 percent to 103,000, the first time it had closed above 100,000.
Major securities houses also posted big gains, with Nikko Securities rocketing more than 15 percent to 1,493 yen, Daiwa Securities advancing 7.4 percent to 1,718 yen and Nomura Securities up 8.1 percent to 1,995 yen.
"Tokyo shares followed the Nasdaq today," Kunihiro Hatae, a general equities manager at Tokyo Securities, told Reuters. "Also, trading was supported by those buyers who came back to the market now that Y2K-related concerns seem to have cleared."
In Hong Kong, traders sought to play down the significance of Tuesday's losses, calling them the result of profit-taking in high-tech issues and the shifting of funds by some institutions to China.
Among major blue chips, banking behemoth HSBC Holdings was off more than 2 percent at HK$105.50 in heavy trading. Property conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa shed 1.3 percent to HK$115.00 after the company's shares matched their lifetime high of HK$117.00 during Monday’s session. Pacific Century CyberWorks gave up almost 4 percent to HK$18.90.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar gained more than a yen against the Japanese currency, with market players wary about the possibility that the Bank of Japan might sell yen for dollars to stem the Japanese currency's rise.
The dollar was trading at about 102.83 yen after falling in the U.S. on Monday to 101.56 yen.
Taiwan stocks rallied more than 3 percent in a rollicking New Year kick-off that pushed the index above 8,800 points at one point. Robust technology stocks and an easing of Y2K-bug worries drove the weighted index up 3.64 percent to 8,756.55.
Singapore’s blue-chip shares fell more than 2 percent, depressed by heavyweight bank stocks and by profit taking that followed closing records in the last three trading sessions. The Straits Times Index was off 2 percent at 2,530.15.
South Korean stocks jumped 3 percent on their first day of trade in the new year amid institutional buying and relief at the absence of major Y2K problems. The Korea Composite Stock Price index rose 30.97 points to 1,059.04.
Australian shares started the New Year lower, with the All Ordinaries falling 0.9 percent to 3,124.1 as sharp rises in the U.S. long bond yield pressured local bonds and equity markets. Philippines shares rose half a percent, Jakarta jumped 3.4 percent, matched by Thailand, which got a lift from brisk buying of telecom stocks. 
--from staff and wire reports
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