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Asia ends day higher
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February 11, 1999: 5:52 a.m. ET
Singapore soars, Hong Kong up 1 percent; Tokyo closed for holiday
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Singapore led most Asian markets in staging a recovery Thursday on the back of a firmer close on Wall Street. Hong Kong posted a smaller gain, up less than 1 percent by the end of trading.
All was quiet in Tokyo, where a national holiday kept the markets closed. This allowed Singapore to steal the limelight, where shares put in a strong performance after a week of decline. The Strait Times Index soared 5.49 percent to close at 1,357.17.
Banks led the way as investors returned to the market looking for bargains after the blood-letting of recent days. The big four finance houses accounted for about 60 percent of the index's rise.
"The market enjoyed a short-term rebound after a sharp correction. It is discounting the probability of a less supportive U.S. interest rate environment and the generally worse- than-expected earnings by major companies," Citibank's Calvin Ho told Reuters.
Investors in Hong Kong were more cautious, with institutions showing little interest ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday Feb.16-18. A small rally on the back of stronger futures trading and better news from New York lifted the Hang Seng Index 0.78 percent to 9,147.
The market failed to maintain its momentum after passing the 9,200 mark in the morning session. "There is still a worry about a possible major correction on Wall Street in the short term," Eugene Law, a director at Celestial Asia Securities, told Reuters.
Blue chips led the gainers. Cheung Kong was up 2.3 percent to HK$49.00 and the index's dominant constituent, HSBC, rose 0.54 percent to end the day at HK$186.50.
Kuala Lumpur also posted strong gains Thursday following local newspaper reports that the government was considering a solution to its freeze on shares traded over- the-counter in Singapore, which has been in place since last September. The Composite Index was off earlier highs, finishing up 3.08 percent at 562.95.
The market in Sydney finished the day up 0.43 percent at 2867.0. Strong profit reports and Wall Street drove sentiment. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. led the way with better-than-expected first half profits of A$877 million ($566 million).
Bangkok led the three decliners in Asia, down 0.35 percent to 313.65. In the Philippines the index of leading shares was down 0.14 percent at 1,894.59, while Korea's Kospi declined 0.1 percent to 523.99.
--from staff and wire reports
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