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Data prods Tokyo higher
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July 29, 1999: 6:03 a.m. ET
Asia mostly higher; strong industrial output data in Japan; HK dips
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Tokyo stocks extended their recovery Thursday from a previous five-day losing streak after robust industrial output figures drew hordes of buyers to the market. Technology stocks surged, while Hong Kong ended a fraction lower.
Seoul stocks led the regional gainers, surging 5.74 percent as concerns over the debt-saddled Daewoo Group continued to subside after the group clinched a $3.31 billion emergency cash transfusion earlier this week.
Singapore shares barreled up 3.32 percent, led by financial issues after Singapore's largest bank, DBS Bank, reported a 301 percent surge in first-half profit.
In Tokyo, where brisk selling had shaved about 1000 points from the blue chip index before the sell-off ended Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 average ended up 290.01 points, or 1.65 percent, at 17,869.92 Thursday. On Wednesday, the index added 117.19 points.
Industrial production rose 3 percent in June from the month before, topping market expectations. But concerns remain about the yen's strength against the dollar, seen as hurting export-reliant blue chip companies in the technology and manufacturing sectors.
For a second consecutive day, heavy interest in technology shares dictated the upward march on the Nikkei. Blue chip Sony Corp. shot up 5.21 percent to close at 14,750 yen, Fujitsu soared 8.78 percent to 3,470 yen and Toshiba jumped 5.47 percent to 945 yen.
The big-three securities companies also posted impressive performances, with Nikko rising 8.83 percent, Daiwa up 6.15 percent, and Nomura gaining 4.09 percent.
HK undercut by Chinese probe
Hong Kong came under modest selling pressure ahead of the expiration of July Hang Seng Index futures contracts and amid reports that the chairman of a red-chip Chinese company was being investigated by Beijing authorities.
In Hong Kong, the leading Hang Seng index pared morning-session losses of up to 130 points to close just 22.58 points lower at 13,117.84, a 0.17 percent dip. Stocks encountered resistance after newspaper reports that the chairman of the China Everbright Group, Zhu Xiaohua, was the target of a probe by Beijing.
Banking stocks also turned down after enjoying a run-up in recent days in the wake of better-than-expected earnings from Bank of East Asia, which managed a solid profit despite setting aside hefty provisions for bad loans to Chinese companies.
Bank of East Asia was off 3.4 percent Thursday afternoon at HK$18.25. HSBC Holdings slipped 0.8 percent to HK$90.50, contributing almost all of Thursday's losses in the morning. But Hang Seng Bank rose 0.6 percent to HK$84.00.
Buoyant banking stocks helped drive Singapore's Straits Times Index 3.32 percent higher to 2,146.70. Local traders told Reuters investors appeared to shrug off ethnic restiveness in the nearby Indonesian island of Batam, where Christians and Muslims live in uneasy cohabitation.
In New York, Wall Street finished mixed Wednesday after investors largely ignored the second part of Federal reserve Chief Alan Greenspan's testimony to U.S. lawmakers - which was a repetition of remarks made a week earlier to a different panel.
The Dow Jones industrial average gave up about 7 points to 10,972.07, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 26.51 points to 2,705.84.
Japan's favorable industrial data and a wave of technology-led buying fueled a surge on Seoul's Kospi, which ended up 5.74 percent, or 54.25 points, at 998.71.
Australia's All Ordinaries tread water, ending a crack higher in the black at 3,062.1, a gain of 0.01 percent. Philippines shares closed half a percent higher, at 2,364.09, even as uncertainty remained over the likelihood of interest rate hikes in the United States and at home.
Cross-strait tensions with China, coupled with a Chinese investigation of Taiwan textile makers pulled the weighted index in Taiwan 1.67 percent lower to close at 7,359.37. Sharing space with Taiwan in the minus column, Malaysian closed down 1 percent on a technical-driven sell-off.
Jakarta stocks closed up 2.87 percent amid news that Indonesia had secured $5.9 billion in aid from donors. Thai shares ended almost 0.7 percent down at 458.82.
--from staff and wire reports
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