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Markets & Stocks
Techs fail to lift Nikkei
November 12, 1999: 6:17 a.m. ET

Tokyo blue chips make modest losses; Korea surges on ratings upgrade
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Japanese blue chips ended Friday's session with mild losses after a session with strong interest in technology and telecom stocks, but little else. Other markets in the region were mixed with South Korea posting the biggest gains.
     The Nikkei 225 fell 69 points, or 0.4 percent, to end at 18,258.55, as December futures for the blue-chip index closed unchanged at 18,300.
     The high-tech stocks shone out in Tokyo. Softbank put in another strong performance as it surged 6.3 percent to end at a record high of 61,000 yen. Investors were encouraged after the Internet investment outfit said it was part of a four-company consortium that had made a preliminary approach for state-controlled Nippon Credit Bank.
     Softbank also unveiled a half-year loss of 3.52 billion yen ($33 million), down from a profit of 3.29 billion yen last time.
     NTT was also buoyant as buying interest continued following the sale of yet another tranche of the telecom giant's shares by the government this week. The shares gained almost 4 percent to end at 1.85 million yen.
     Tokyo's blue-chip index had a poor week, as the Nikkei slipped 96 points over last Friday's close.
    
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     In the currency markets the dollar had a relatively quiet session against the yen Friday as traders remained cautious ahead of next week's U.S. interest rate decision. The dollar traded around the 104.80 yen level for much of the session.
     The U.S. interest rate meeting next week caused jitters on Wall Street Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average closed just inside the minus column, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged to its ninth record close in 10 sessions.
     Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped slightly before the end but still closed 84 points higher at 14,189.67, after spending much of the session in the red. Strong institutional demand for the newly-listed government Tracker Fund helped the index higher, although the upside was capped by the apparent failure of talks with the U.S. over China's accession to the World Trade Organization.
    
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     The Hang Seng has made big gains over the last five trading days, soaring 579 points over the week, a rise of 4.2 percent.
     Singapore's Straits Times recorded its seventh successive winning close Friday, led higher by electronics and banking shares. The index jumped 1.5 percent, or 32 points, to close at 2,185.82.
     The solid performance in recent sessions has seen the index jump 3.5 percent in the last week, a gain of 74 points.
    
straits times index

     South Korea's Kospi surged 2.3 percent, or 22 points, to close at 969.26, following a ratings upgrade from Standard & Poor's after the market closed Thursday. Technology and telecom stocks led the way higher.
     In Sydney, the All Ordinaries benefited from another rally by the dominant resources sector as it closed almost 1 percent at higher at 3,010.20. The first time in two months it has ended above the 3,000 mark.
     In Bangkok, the Set gave up much of early gains in late trade but still closed 0.6 percent higher at 432.02.
     Asia's other markets were all weaker. In Manila, the Composite closed almost 1 percent lower at 1,991.01. The JSX in Jakarta lost 0.5 percent to end at 635.23, while Kuala Lumpur blue chips fell 0.5 percent to 721.52 in late trade.
     Taiwan's market was closed Friday for a public holiday.Back to top
     -- from staff and wire reports

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.