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Asia ends on firm footing
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January 7, 2000: 6:21 a.m. ET
Tokyo closes flat, Hong Kong advances more than 1 percent as mood perks up
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asian markets stabilized Friday, with some posting impressive gains, as investors spooked by another Nasdaq nosedive sought refuge from teetering technology stocks in other sectors. Japan ended little changed, while Hong Kong climbed almost 2 percent, snapping a three-day losing streak that wiped about 13 percent off the market’s value.
A triple-digit rally Thursday on the Dow Jones industrials bolstered confidence across a region reeling from a technology-led sell-off this week.
After darting in and out of positive territory throughout the session, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 25.14 points, or 0.14 percent, at 18,193.41.
Despite the Nikkei’s positive finish, some analysts see a malaise in the wider market, exacerbated by the latest of several steep drops on the U.S. Nasdaq market Thursday, that has taken that index's cumulative loss to about 400 points, or nearly 10 percent, this week.
"As long as there's continued jitters in Nasdaq, we'll have to wait to see what happens," Kathy Matsui, chief equity strategist at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo told CNNfn.com. She noted that another leading gauge, the TOPIX index, comprised of many stocks similar to those traded on the Nasdaq, fell 10 points Friday to below 16,000, a level not seen since mid-December.
Some of Friday's most impressive gains in Japan came in defensive sectors such as chemicals and pharmaceuticals: Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. leapt 9.5 percent to 4,510 yen, while Takeda Chemical Industries jumped 11.3 percent to 5,700 yen. Alcoholic beverage and chemical maker Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., which has branched out in biotechnology as well, climbed 6.3 percent to end at 830 yen. The shares have surged 35 percent since Tuesday.
Consumer electronics maker Sony Corp. slid for a second straight day, losing 7.8 percent to end down by the daily limit of 2,000 yen at 23,700 yen. Sony has tumbled more than 25 percent since it hit a lifetime high of 32,250 yen on Tuesday, its first trading session of 2000. Thursday, the company's president made the unusual assertion that any level above 20,000 yen for his company's shares would create a "bubble".
Internet investor Softbank Corp., another onetime high-flyer, closed down 6.1 percent at 76,600 yen, while wireless giant NTT Docomo finished 7 percent lower at 3.16 million yen.
In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng index overcame early volatility to close up 252.40 points, or 1.67 percent, at 15,405.63, supported by Thursday's 130-point climb on the Dow Jones. Volume was HK$19.32 billion ($2.48 billion), down from HK$23.11 billion Thursday. Gainers beat decliners 523 to 145 in the broader market.
Local traders said retail investors were dominating trading in technology stocks with an eye on short-term moves, saying that such selling didn’t indicate a serious reappraisal of on companies' fundamental worth.
Among the major movers, Pacific Century CyberWorks, the most heavily traded stock of the session, closed up 3.6 percent to HK$14.40. Driving the Hang Seng gains, banking giant HSBC Holdings leapt just over 3 percent to HK$100.50, accounting for 114 points of the blue chip advance. Heavyweight telecom company China Telecom lost 0.5 percent to close at HK$41.70.
In Australia, demand for blue chips and natural-resource stocks helped the All Ordinaries shrug off early Nasdaq-inspired weakness. The leading index ended up 14.4 points, or half a percentage point, at 3,044.5. Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto, mining and energy firm BHP and copper producer MIM Holdings closed at records.
The Straits Times Index in Singapore ended almost 2 percent higher at 2,406.04, supported by a recovery in some blue chips and banks. Technology issues continued to falter, though, extending three successive days of losses.
The region's two net decliners Friday, Seoul and Taiwan, ended down 1.3 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Seoul finished off early lows, lifted by financial shares, with Samsung Securities and LG Securities both proving popular amid predictions of strong full-year earnings. Taiwan was dragged down by technology stocks, snapping a nine-day rally that had driven the weighted index up almost 15 percent.
In the Philippines, shares ended 0.7 percent higher ahead of an announcement about a cabinet reshuffle by the country's president. Kuala Lumpur shares advanced 0.3 percent to close at 818.43, while Thai stocks added 2.2 percent, helped by bank gains.
The dollar dipped to session lows below 105 yen Friday before gaining slightly to trade at around 105.14 yen in late trade. The Bank of Japan helped to ward off a further climb in the yen earlier this week as it stepped in Tuesday to sell yen for dollars. 
--from staff and wire reports
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