Tokyo, Feb 23: Asia-Pacific stock markets ended mixed Tuesday with cheer over a sharply higher close on Wall Street offset by caution ahead of Fed chairman Alan Greenspan's biannual testimony to US lawmakers. Tokyo jumped 1.7 per cent, Hong Kong gained 2.2 per cent, Manila rose 1 per cent, Sydney edged up 0.3 per cent and Singapore and Kuala Lumpur ended marginally higher.But Bangkok, Jakarta, Seoul, Taipei and Auckland ended in negative territory. Dealers said investors had been cheered by a 2.3-per cent gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average overnight, but added that caution prevailed ahead of Greenspan's testimony Tuesday and Wednesday. Investors are watching for any hint in the testimony on a possible rise in US interest rates. In Tokyo, share prices rose, with investors heartened by gains on Wall Street and out-of-the market factors such as yen-dollar rates, brokers said.The Nikkei stock average of 225 leading issues climbed 243.98 points to end at the day's high of 14,500.65. The Topix index ofall-first section issues gained 8.86 points to end at 1,117.77. ``Market sentiment has improved since investors saw a reversal in weak bond prices and bullish yen,'' said Tsuyoshi Segawa, head of equity dealing at New Japan Securities Co Ltd.Hong Kong: Hong Kong share prices rose 2.2 per cent as investors cheered an overnight rise on Wall Street and banking giant HSBC Holdings plc's plans to restructure its share capital, dealers said. The key Hang Seng index gained 204.65 points to close at 9,433.99. After announcing a 21 per cent fall in net profit last year, HSBC on Monday announced plans to seek an additional stock-market listing in New York as part of a rest ructuring of its share capital.
Singapore: Singapore share prices closed barely higher on a lack of follow-through buying after recent gains. A dealer with a European brokerage said selective buying programs that helped boost the stock market in the past few days "are pretty much complete." The Straits Times Index rose by a quarter of a point toend at 1,400.43.
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian share prices closed barely higher due to last-minute buying support for index-linked stocks, dealers said. ``The bourse was uninspired for almost the whole day. Just before the close buying interest on selected heavy weights pushed the index up,'' an institutional dealer with a local brokerage said. The dealer said that the late buying interest focused on heavyweights such as Sime Darby, Mybank and Tenaga. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's composite index gained 0.18 points, or 0.03 per cent, to finish at 562.79 while the lesser second board index fell 1.97 points, or 1.3 per cent, at 146.06.
Bangkok: Thai shares gave up early gains and closed 0.2 per cent weaker in directionless trade, dealers said. An analyst with Adkinson Securities said the market rose in the morning sessionmainly due to Wall Street's performance, but the gains were capped by across-the-board profit taking.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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