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Asia's big two follow Wall St.
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February 23, 1999: 6:26 a.m. ET
Tokyo posts moderate gains while HK is buoyed by HSBC capital changes
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's stock markets piggybacked on a bullish session on Wall Street, helping the region's main indexes to trade in positive territory Tuesday. Tokyo and Hong Kong both moved moderately higher.
Market players were cautious however, with many eyes on Alan Greenspan. The U.S. Federal Reserve chairman is due to make a speech on the U.S. economy in his regular congressional testimony later Tuesday.
The Nikkei 225 index of leading shares closed up 1.71 percent at 14,500.65 as investors were heartened by the optimism of their U.S. counterparts. The yen continued to weaken against the dollar, helping exporters.
Export-related and high-technology stocks led the way again, with Pioneer Electronics posting more gains, rising 5.69 percent to close at 2,230 yen. Chip-maker NEC put on another spurt after strong gains Monday to add 2.56 percent, finishing the day at 1,200 yen. The market is still showing its pleasure at the restructuring plan announced last Friday. Honda Motors also continued its gains, putting on 2.7 percent to 4,570 yen.
Trading in Tokyo was relatively slow however, and there was a lack of activity in other markets. "With the currency and Japanese bond markets quiet, players are increasingly taking a wait-and-see stance," one dealer told Reuters.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up 204.65 points, or 2.2 percent, at 9,433.99.
The index was buoyed further by strong gains from index heavyweight HSBC Holdings. The shares were up 5 percent at HK$206 after investors reacted to the bank's capital restructuring plans. The financial giant plans to consolidate its HK dollar- and sterling-denominated shares and take a U.S. dollar listing in New York. The two existing stocks should, in theory, trade for the same price, but a valuation gap developed between the two, which is now closing as the HK dollar-denominated stock rises.
In Singapore, European investors came in late in the session to help the Strait Times index close marginally higher at 1,400.43.
Sydney ended Tuesday little changed after running close to record highs earlier. The All Ordinaries closed up 0.26 percent at 2,924.0.
Other smaller markets were mainly lower. Taiwan's leading index closed the day down 2.1 percent at 6,180.94 ending a two-day rally. Korea's Kospi continued its declines as investors fretted about the effect of the weaker yen on exports. The blue-chip index ended down 2.17 percent at 497.45.
The Philippines bucked the trend among the smaller markets with the Composite index 0.98 percent higher, closing at 1,958.70. Kuala Lumpur ended the day flat with the main index just up at 562.79.
Thailand lost ground late in the session with Bangkok's Set index closing 0.24 percent lower at 333.71. Jakarta also ended marginally down, falling 0.18 percent to 397.93.
-- from staff and wire reports
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