"Trading was not active, particularly in the afternoon session, as the movement of the futures became more limited, and investors lacked leads," one broker said. Concerns over the debate on finance sector reform bills, including the bail-outof troubled Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan (LTCB), continued to keep investors caut ious over taking fresh positions, brokers said.

"There is the possibility not only for LTCB to be in danger but also for other Banks, as well," another broker said.

The key Nikkei stock average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 29.67 points to end At 14,197.70, falling back from the high of 14,375.57 points. Share prices benefitted from a rebound on Wall Street the previous day along witH strong rallies in Latin American markets, but buying slowed towards the close, br okers said. TheTopix index of all issues on the first section slipped 3.34 points to end at1,087.50.

Turnover on the major board came to 380 million shares against Monday's 363.3 million shares. The market was closed Tuesday for a public holiday Share prices also fell as companies unwound cross-shareholdings before they close account books for the first half ending in September, brokers said. "Basically, selling ahead of the book closing for the first half is continuing,and foreign securities companies remain net sellers, to a degree, " a broker said.

"Blue chips such as Toshiba and Hitachi are still under pressure, looking at the lack of buying support (for Hitachi) and the limited gains of Toshiba,'' the broker said. Hitachi ended at 589 yen, down 17 yen or 2.8 per cent, as Toshiba rose 16 yen or 3.5 per cent to 476 yen.

LTCB closed at the day's low of 25 yen, down 13 yen or 34.2 per cent from Monday when it tumbled to an all-time low of 19 yen briefly. Other bank leaders closed mixed with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishiup 13 yen, or 1.2 per cent, at 1,065 and Sumitomo Bank up 12 yen, or 1.1 per cent, at 1,120.

Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank ended down three yen at 599, with little impact from news of a Moody's downgrade. Mitsubishi Trust fell two yen to 723 as investors largely ignored Moody's downgrade, brokers said.

Suzuki Motor lost two yen to 1,238, down from a high of 1,335 after profit-taking eroded gains on news that US auto giant General Motors plans to raise its stake in the company with Suzuki as the main small vehicle arm.Other auto leaders closed broadly higher, with Honda up 90 yen, or 2.1 per cent, at 4,480 and Toyota up 4O yen, or 1.5 per cent, at 2,795.

Easing interest rates buoy HK shares 1.6 per cent

Hong Kong share prices rose 1.6 per cent Wednesday on follow-up buying as interbank rates eased amid a mixture of positive leads, dealers said.

``Sentiment has gotten better on a mixture of good news,'' said Howard Gorges, vice President at South China Brokerage. He cited a government plan to go aheadwith the construction of a 64 billion Hong Kong dollar (8.3 billion US) railway project on the local front and to scrap some anti-speculative measures in the property market.

On the external Front, investors were encouraged by US President Bill Clinton's call to the industrialised world to address the global economic crisis. The key Hang Seng index rose 127.21 points to close at 7,860.68 -- its fourth consecutive gain. The value of turnover amounted to 4.977 billion Hong Kong dollars (643 million US), Against the previous day's 5.553 billion dollars.

Gorges said the turnover was still small, adding: ``It is quite difficult to forecast the trend as the market depends on day to day news from the world.'' The market opened weakly, but rebounded on bargain hunting for HSBC Holdings shares, which had fallen to a two-year low on Tuesday amid concerns about the banking giant's exposure to Latin American markets.

Michael Ng, dealing director at Sassoon Securities, said the rebound in Latin Americanstockmarkets overnight provided support for HSBC stocks. With the benchmark three-month interbank offered rate fixed at 9.82143 percent, compared with 10.08036 in previous day, property stocks also regained some momentum.

Korean stocks end marginally higher on technicals

South Korean share prices ended the day less than one percent higher Wednesday on technical factors, with sentiment underpinned by declining money market rates and a firmer won, dealers said. The Korea Stock Exchange composite index ended closed 2.88 points up at 313.17, off a high of 314.82.