Monday STOCK markets across the region opened the week with bad luck. Investors continued their dumping of shares tied to the US dollar as the United States and Japan failed to prop up the dollar.
The US dollar dived to a new low of 86.03 against the yen overnight, despite the Fed's massive buying and the Bank of Japan's decision to reduce rates on overnight loans between banks to 1.75 per cent.
Tuesday FRANKLIN Resources, the California-based fund company, confirmed it had taken 10 per cent of the shares in Hang Lung Development, worth $1.5 billion using the day's share value. But it did not say when it purchased the shares or how much it paid.
The firm, backed by its primary business Franklin Templeton Group, is the second-largest US fund manager and the nation's fifth-largest money-management firm.
Wednesday H-SHARE company Yizheng Chemical Fibre posted a 64 per cent leap in net profit to 978.02 million yuan (HK$896.84 million) last year, fuelled by a substantial drop in sales tax and a foreign exchange gain. The results were at the high end of market expectations.
Under International Accounting Standards, earnings surged from a large foreign exchange gain following the yuan's unification last year.
