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Tokyo defies Asian sell-off
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November 24, 1999: 5:46 a.m. ET
Nikkei re-opens after holiday to post modest gains; other markets edge lower
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Tokyo bucked the losing trend across Asia Wednesday as technology and telecom stocks kept the region's largest market in positive territory. Almost every other market headed lower, taking Wall Street's lead.
The Nikkei 225 closed 74 points higher at 18,896.21 as investors returning from a market holiday ignored the mild sell-off on Wall Street Tuesday.
Strong technology shares briefly pushed the index through the 19,000 level for the first time in two years, but buying waned amid concerns about the sustainability of the recent bull run. The strength of the yen, which dilutes overseas earnings and exporters' profits, is of particular concern.
The dollar Wednesday regained some ground against the Japanese currency late in the session to trade around 104.36 yen, after hitting a three-week low Tuesday of 104. The markets reacted to hints from Japan's Ministry of Finance that it could intervene to weaken the yen as speculators continued to shy away from the European single currency.
The Japanese currency has been particularly strong in the last 24 hours, coming within a whisker of hitting a record high against the euro, reaching a five-year high against the Swiss franc and a four-year high against the Australian dollar. The euro traded at 107.28 yen late in the day, after hitting a low of 106.79.
Selected buying helped keep the blue-chip index in the black. "There has been some bargain-hunting in cheap, domestic demand-related shares over the past couple of sessions, but the only issues that investors are really committed to are high-techs and telecoms," said Masakazu Kimura, general manager at Universal Securities.
Elsewhere in the region investors took their cue from a losing session on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average Tuesday fell almost 100 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.2 percent as inflation concerns pushed investors to pocket gains.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng endured a volatile session Wednesday, as it pared some of its sharp losses. It closed down 86 points, or about 0.56 percent at 15,307.28. The losses came despite a record close for heavyweight banking stock HSBC, which jumped almost 3 percent to close at HK$105.50.
The Straits Times in Singapore also closed in negative territory after struggling with losses throughout the session. A rally in electronic stocks failed to halt the wider sell-off as the index closed 20 points, or almost 1 percent, lower at 2,190.72.
Seoul's Kospi closed 0.5 percent lower at 969.29 as investors worried about the future direction of local interest rates.
In Sydney, the All Ordinaries fell almost 1 percent, or 27 points, to end at 3,034.8, with sentiment undermined by the Dow's fall. It was the index's third straight losing session.
Manila blue chips bucked the losing trend across the region to close 8 points higher at 1,964.21. In Kuala Lumpur, the Composite closed just inside positive territory at 740.82.
Taipei's Weighted index fell 1.5 percent to close at 7,921.85, while in Jakarta the JSX tumbled 3 percent to end at 599.72, as investors continued to fret about the ongoing civil unrest in the province of Aceh.
Losses on Thailand's Set index mounted late in the session, as it closed down 1.5 percent at 399.23.
-- from staff and wire reports
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