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Asia rises, HK at record
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March 7, 2000: 6:26 a.m. ET
Hang Seng reverses course to end up 106 points; Nikkei advances 0.8%
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's main stock markets mostly rose Tuesday, with Hong Kong's main stock index climbing to a record close as by brisk demand for leading China blue chips sparked a late-day turnaround. The Nikkei Average in Tokyo emerged from a choppy session on higher ground as gains in "old economy" manufacturing stocks offset the latest decline in market heavyweight Sony Corp.
The biggest markets in the region overcame a warning Monday by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that more interest rate rises are in store for the galloping U.S. economy.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index on Monday fell 196.70 points, or nearly 2 percent, to 10,170.50, snapping a five-day winning streak. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped nearly 10 points after coming within a hair's breadth of the 5,000-point milestone.
In Tokyo, the 225-share Nikkei ended up 147.89 points, or 0.75 percent, at 19,944.24. The gains were underpinned by a late influx of cash from institutional traders, many of whom have pressured the market recently as they unwound cross-shareholdings ahead of book closing at the end of March.
"Old economy" stocks in Japan's massive manufacturing sector performed well. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries gained 3.8 percent to 330 yen, Kawasaki Heavy Industries rose 4.3 percent to 121 yen, general contractor Taisei Corp. climbed 7.4 percent and Kajima Corp. rose 6.1 percent.
Internet investor Softbank Corp. surged 15.4 percent to 135,000 yen, reversing the previous day's 16 percent tumble.
"The market's going to be bumpy for a while as large-cap high-tech issues correct," Masatoshi Kikuchi, a senior strategist at Daiwa Institute of Research, told Reuters. "There's a lot of money coming into the market, but the market's still in the process of deciding what are fair valuations for high-techs."
Sony drops further
Exemplifying the fragile mood, consumer electronics giant Sony Corp. fell 1.7 percent to close at 29,040 yen, a day after the company reported initial sales since Saturday of 980,000 PlayStation2 game consoles, in line with market expectations. The shares have fallen about 10 percent so far this month.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index reversed course to close up 106.60 points, or 0.6 percent, at 17,865.36. CITIC Pacific rallied 9 percent to HK$43.70 amid speculation the company was about to step up investment in high-tech projects.
Cheung Kong Infrastructure soared 32.7 percent to close at HK$14.80.
Market heavyweight China Telecom put a lid on the Hang Seng gains, falling almost 1 percent to HK&78.25.
Cable & Wireless HKT climbed 3.2 percent to HK$25.60. Internet start-up Pacific Century CyberWorks, which is buying a 54 percent stake in HKT from Cable & Wireless, ended up 4.1 percent at HK$24.30. C&W HKT chief executive Linus Cheung said Tuesday he expects the companies' $35 billion merger to be completed by June 5.
HSBC Holdings slid 1.4 percent to HK$85.50; the bank's shares have fallen 21.5 percent so far this year.
Property conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa closed down 1.5 percent at HK$133.00, while its parent company Cheung Kong (Holdings), half owned by property tycoon Li Ka-shing, finished up 2.3 percent at $HK110.00.
In other markets, selling linked with March futures and options expirations depressed leading shares in Seoul. The benchmark Kospi index closed down 0.2 percent at 907.34, though losses were limited by overseas buying.
Record close in Sydney
The key All Ordinaries index in Sydney ended up 0.6 percent, reversing early losses to finish at its fifth straight record close, buoyed by a gain for telecommunications company Telstra ahead of the release of its first-half earnings Wednesday. The blue-chip gauge advanced 18.9 points to 3,251.0, just shy of its record intraday high of 3,255.7 achieved last Friday. Major resource stocks such as BHP and Rio Tinto also posted strong gains. Telstra closed up 18 cents at A$8.71, contributing about 5.7 points to the All Ordinaries' advance.
Anxiety over U.S. interest rates dampened the mood in Singapore, where the bellwether Straits Times Index ended down 1.4 percent. Rate-sensitive property issues and blue chips such as media company Singapore Press Holdings, United Overseas Bank and Singapore Telecommunications all declined between 3.9 and 4.7 percent. Creative Technology, maker of the Sound Blaster sound card, surged to a record high.
In Taiwan, the weighted index ended fractionally higher at 9,380.07, with gains capped by caution ahead of the island's March 18 presidential election. State-linked funds were seen supporting the index Tuesday.
Jakarta stocks slipped 0.7 to close at 562.759 amid worries about the health of President Wahid and edginess over the U.S rate outlook.
Kuala Lumpur shares were nearly 1 percent lower as small-capitalization stocks took a hit. Manila shares slid 3 percent, while Thai stocks crept up 0.3 percent amid concerns over the resilience of Thailand's economic recovery.
The dollar continued to hold its own against the yen at 107.58 yen, little changed from its level in late New York trading Monday around 107.50 yen. 
--from staff and wire reports
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