December 5, 2001	Wednesday	Ramazan 19, 1422

TOKYO, Dec 4: Share prices on most Asian stock exchanges moved higher on Tuesday as investors went bargain hunting.

Singapore and Hong Kong led the way, both boosted by property stocks, with gains of 2.9 and 2.4 per cent respectively. The region’s biggest market, Tokyo, put on 0.8 per cent after late gains in selected hi-tech shares.

The Nikkei-225 average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange increased 82.03 points to finish at 10,452.65.

Bargain-hunting emerged in the afternoon, which sent some of the key hi-tech shares up before the end of the day’s trading, said Sakura Friend Securities broker Koichi Kawata.

But market sentiment remained dark as major Japanese shares, particularly banks, are facing selling pressure, Kawata said.

The impact of Moody’s Investors Service’s decision to cut Japan’s sovereign debt rating was limited. There was little impact as the downgrade by Moody’s was already factored in, Kawata said.

Moody’s lowered Japan’s yen-denominated domestic securities rating to ‘Aa3’ from ‘Aa2’, citing weak Japanese economic fundamentals and a lack of effective government policies to restore growth.

The Dow Jones industrials fell 0.9 per cent and the Nasdaq shed 1.3 per cent following the collapse of United States energy giant Enron and tensions in the Middle East.

The collapse of Enron continued to dampen buying sentiment in Tokyo, said Hiroichi Nishi, senior market analyst at Nikko Cordial Securities.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices rose 2.4 per cent on selective bargain hunting after a strong government land auction.

The key Hang Seng index gained 272.13 points to close at 11,427.28.

Dealers said buying interest was strong in property counters after the better-than-expected government land auction results, although the sites were deemed too small to serve as an indicator of any revival in the property market.

Peter Lai, sales director with OCBC Securities said foreign institutional investors resumed buying, particularly in the late morning.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed 0.2 per cent lower as investors stood back from the market ahead of an anticipated interest rate cut.

The All Ordinaries index closed 5.6 points down at 3,263.0 while the SP/ASX 200 index eased 4.5 points to 3,324.3.

BNP Paribas Equities director John Bowie Wilson said banking stocks recovered some of the ground lost recently while retail stocks found support ahead of the key Christmas trading period.

It was a featureless day although the firmness in banks was offset by weakness in key stocks such as News Corp and AMP, he said.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares rose 2.9 per cent to hit their highest level since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US, boosted by property and banking stocks.

The Straits Times Index surged 43.75 points to finish at 1,538.03 while the broader All Singapore Equities index added 11.13 points to 406.41.

Dealers said low interest rates and emerging demand for residential properties fuelled the rally which saw the key index close at its highest level since the terrorist strikes, which contributed to the global slowdown.

There’s foreign buying in property and banks. I think it’s the low interest rate environment, that’s why funds are going into the bigger capitalised stocks such as banks and properties, Chan Tuck Sing, OUB Securities head of sales, said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.6 per cent higher due to buying of selected blue chips.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index rose 4.16 points to finish at 647.51.

Dealers said sentiment turned positive in late trade after rumours a major pension fund entered the market to pick up blue chips, triggering a rebound from early losses triggered by concerns over the conflict in the Middle East and the negative impact from Enron’s collapse.

The whole market suddenly turned positive after the rumour about the fund’s entry. When retail investors and stockists saw increased activity, they got excited and the broad market rose, an institutional fund manager said.

SEOUL: South Korean share prices edged down 0.1 per cent, weighed down by programme selling ahead of next week’s expiry of December futures.

The composite index closed down 0.76 points at 649.90.

The market opened lower on Wall Street’s falls but attempted a moderate rebound led by Hynix Semiconductor and Samsung Electronics, dealers said.

Shinyoung Securities analyst Kim In-Soo said: The market failed to sustain its attempted rebound due to the absence of major buying forces.

Sustainable gains are unlikely until the market puts behind it this concern about selling pressure from the futures market, he said, adding Hynix remained the focus of retail support.

MANILA: Philippine share prices fell 0.8 per cent in extended profit-taking after last week’s three-day rally.

The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index dropped 8.51 points to 1,096.55.

Astro del Castillo of A and A Securities Inc. said that a “reality check” had tempered the enthusiasm of investors.

MUMBAI: Stocks gained 1.4 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on large purchases of technology shares.

The benchmark 30-share BSE sensitive index rose 44.81 points to close at 3320.28.

Dealers said blue chip technology shares such as Wipro, Infosys, Satyam Computer, Global Tele-Systems were keenly sought by funds.

A dealer with a domestic brokerage said Morgan Stanley made large bulk purchases of Wipro after the Bangalore-based firm Tuesday announced two major deals with foreign IT firms.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 0.9 per cent lower, led by profit-taking in cement maker Semen Gresik and Bank Central Asia (BCA).

Dealers said overall sentiment was undermined by fresh security concerns as the Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index ended down 3.243 points at 377.557.

An institutional dealer with a foreign brokerage said the market’s fall was simply due to the fact that some stocks that had pushed the index up recently were down Tuesday.

There are only a few stocks which have been moving the index recently, including BCA, Astra and Semen Gresik. When these stocks are under selling pressure, then the index goes down, he said.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s sharemarket eased across the board after offshore markets kicked off the week on a sour note.

The benchmark NZSE40 index closed down 13.1 points or 0.6 per cent at 2,028.06.

The market had very little to trade on today, just slightly weaker markets offshore, in the UK, the US and Europe overnight, JB Were senior investment adviser Peter Stokes said.—AFP