|
Asia follows Wall Street lead
|
 |
April 13, 1999: 5:08 a.m. ET
Asian stocks rebound on New York surge; tech stocks remain out of favor
|
LONDON (CNNfn) - Wall Street's surprise bounce provided Asia's bourses with their cue Tuesday. Tokyo and Hong Kong stocks moved a little over 1 percent higher.
Tokyo pared earlier gains but still closed in positive territory as tech stocks remained out of favor, while Hong Kong also lost some momentum toward the close.
U.S. stock markets defied expectations Monday, after a profit warning by the world's largest PC maker, Compaq (CPQ), was widely predicted to bring the bears out in force. Instead, all three main U.S. indices closed in record territory.
With confidence returning to Tokyo, investors needed little excuse to renew their buying spree after Monday's sharp drop. The Nikkei 225 ended the session up 1.3 percent at 16,715.16, a rise of 207 points, although it had been 2 percent higher earlier in the session.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index made up almost all of Monday's 1.4 percent loss to finish 1.32 percent higher at 11,899.69.
With sentiment toward technology stocks already damaged, buyers in Tokyo sniffed out cheaper blue chips. "Money is flowing into cracks in the market where stocks are seen to be cheap. High-technology (shares) are already high so the drift is towards chemical and steel stocks," Norihiro Kobayashi, a trader at New Japan Securities, told Reuters.
Takeda Chemical Industries added almost 5.2 percent to close at 5,280 yen.
One of the biggest gainers was conglomerate Kanebo, with a heavy exposure to drugs and cosmetics, which put on almost 8 percent to close at 190 yen.
Auto stocks were also strong. Honda Motors added just over 5.6 percent to close at 5,250 yen and Toyota Motor put on 3.55 percent at 3,500.
Technology stocks remained weak, with NEC Corp. shedding 2 percent to 1,372 yen. Sony Corp. managed a small rally adding 0.67 percent to close at 12,080 yen.
Hong Kong investors were also looking for value beyond the obvious stocks that have done well in recent months. "Locals are switching their attention to second liners or blue-chip laggards," Frederick Tsang, head of research at DBS Securities in Hong Kong, told Reuters.
The strongest blue-chip performance came from Wharf Holdings, which closed 7.4 percent higher at HK$15.90. Hysan Development wasn't far behind, adding 6.6 percent to close at HK$12.05.
Among second-tier stocks, the biggest mover of the session was SmarTone Mobile Communications, which at one point added more than 8 percent, but eventually closed HK$0.85 higher at HK$25.10. Investors welcomed the announcement that the mobile phone operator had linked up with Yahoo (YHOO) to provide content for SmarTone's soon-to-be-launched website.
Elsewhere in the region, most markets were also moderately higher. Singapore's Straits Times index was up 1.25 percent at 1,682.02.
Sydney's All Ordinaries index closed in record territory, putting on 24 points to 3,076.2. In Manila, blue chips closed flat at 2,157.64 after strong gains Monday, while Taiwan's index of leading shares closed 1.32 percent higher at 7337.85.
South Korea's Kospi closed flat at 689.80.
Kuala Lumpur's Composite index was up 1.9 percent at 582.25, while Jakarta surged almost 3 percent to 433.76. Bangkok was just in negative territory, 1 point lower at 370.68.
-- from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
