In Tokyo, the Nikkei stock average of 225 leading issues climbed 249.30 points to end at 14,170.36, recovering the 14,000-mark point. "There were feelings among investors that yesterday's drop was too much," said Yasuo Ueki, manager of Nikko Securities Co Ltd's financial products department.Massive selling by institutional investors in the last hour of trading on Tuesday sent the key index to close below the major chart point for the first time since February12.

While admitting it was too early to be optimistic, Ueki said the market was less pressured by corporate investors poised to sell to secure profit by the March 31 account-book closing. "Many market players now believe they will be able to pass remaining days until the account closing day (on March 31) without seeing a disastrous setback," Ueki said.

The Topix index of all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 7.73 points to close at 1,099.81, with an estimated 395 million shares traded against Tuesday's 457.4 million shares.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong stocks closed barely changed after the announcement of the 1999-2000 budget, with investors having already discounted most positive steps unveiled by the government, dealers said. The blue chip Hang Seng Index ended the day at 9,922.4, up 8.82 points or 0.09 per cent. The index fell back after having risen 0.7 per cent in the morning session to 9,981.99.

Brokers said the good news in the budget announced by financial secretary Donald Tsangfor the fiscal year to March 2000 had been largely anticipated. These included negotiations with US entertainment giant Walt Disney to construct a theme park in Hong Kong, initiatives to set up a hi-tech cyberport and the planned privatisation of the Mass Transit Railway Corp.

Some profit-taking was seen on Tsang's announcement that the government's portfolio of Hong Kong stocks would be trimmed to five per cent of the total assets of the government's Exchange Fund from the current 17 per cent.

Singapore: Singapore share prices closed barely lower amid retail interest in second liners, dealers said. The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 0.2 per cent or 2.80 points to close at 1,415.81. "I think the view is the market is not going anywhere, and it definitely won't go down much, so there is no rush to go in," said a dealer with a Japanese brokerage.

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian share prices closed 2.4 per cent lower in the absence of positive leads, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur StockExchange's composite index fell 12.80 points to finish at 513.23, off an earlier low of 509.11. One local institutional dealer said market sentiment was weighed down by political uncertainties amid the March 12 and 13 elections in Sabah state, seen as a first test for the government ahead of national polls.u