bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

TOKYO stocks ended sharply lower, with the Nikkei average closing below 20,000 for the first time in almost two weeks.

   The 225-share Nikkei average slid 381.24 points, 1.9 per cent, to 19,734.57.

     The broader first section TOPIX index was down 24.96 points, 1.53 per cent, to 1,609.33.

     Turnover was a meagre 200 million shares, compared with 236 million on Thursday.

  ''It was too risky to bid against the market, and buyers had to pull back,'' said Akihiro Naimura at Okasan Securities. ''This bearishness may drag on for a while.''      Brokers said the market was wary of growing prospects of a coalition of opposition parties taking over power from the Liberal Democratic Party.

 MANILA SHARE prices rose to a record but brokers said the strong rally this week had begun to weaken on profit-taking.

  ''It's a welcome correction, a breather before the market kicks up again to scale greater heights,'' said Lisa Joson of Morgan Grenfell Philippines Securities.

  ''It's actually another busy day. While buyers remained relatively aggressive, sellers started coming out,'' said Louie Bate of Baring Securities.

     Manila closed at 1,715.78 points from 1,706.95, while Makati inched up 1.71 to 1,760.84.

 TAIPEI STOCKS surged 2.4 per cent in active trade on small deposit rate cuts by local banks, low short-term interest rates and news that the central bank had agreed to ease curbs on foreign investment in the market.

     The weighted index opened higher and extended its gains on a late wave of buying which pushed it up more than 100 points at one stage. It closed 95.43 points up at 4,027.58 on turnover of NT$21.3 billion.

  ''Sentiment has clearly improved in the last two days and chances for share prices to move higher now are very big,'' said Eric Ni of Taiwan International Securities.

 SYDNEY AUSTRALIAN shares recovered earlier losses to close firmer, though off their highs.

     Brokers said prices were pushed upwards by strong offshore and local buying and renewed hope of an early interest rate cut.

  ''International buyers came in and helped the broader market,'' said Rod Ebsworth, a director at Potter Warburg.

     The All Ordinaries index finished up 4.2 points at 1,806.8, after a weak start prompted by the Dow's 30-point fall overnight.

 WELLINGTON SHARE prices weakened on moderate volumes as investors took profits and showed concern about international markets and the strength of the New Zealand dollar, brokers said.

  ''People are waiting to see what will happen in Britain,'' said Cavill White broker Richard Burton.

     The Dow's fall added to the weak tone but brokers said investors were ready to take profits after the market had risen every day this week.

     The NZSE-40 capital index closed 9.27 down at 1,720.07 on volume of NZ$24 million.

 SINGAPORE SHARES closed higher on late buying of speculative Malaysian shares traded over the counter.

  ''Retail investors are back but it is doubtful they will have the courage to stay too long in the market after suffering losses recently,'' a bank-based broker said.

     Institutional orders were still there but fund managers were not keen on chasing stocks aggressively, he said.

     The 30-share Straits Times Industrial index rose 4.67 points to 1,823.08.

 KUALA LUMPUR PRICES closed higher as retail investors resumed buying of situational stocks, brokers said.

  ''Retail investors are coming back aggressively as a lot of shares are well below their recent highs,'' said a broker. ''But blue-chips are consolidating after the strong surge.''      Falls in major component stocks dragged the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index down 2.11 points to close at 757.65.

 SEOUL STOCKS ended lower in weak trading with investor sentiment depressed by worsening labour disputes at Hyundai subsidiaries and tight liquidity.

     The market recovered slightly towards the close on institutional buying focused on low-priced shares, raising prospects of a continued rebound today.

     The composite index closed 4.75 points down at 741.81.

  ''Basic sentiment remained weak. In addition to Hyundai disputes, the need for companies to pay corporate taxes dampened the market,'' said Kim Dong-ik of Daishin Securities.

 BANGKOK THAI stocks gained back some of the ground lost earlier in the day but still ended the day lower in very slow trade as investors sold stocks that had been active throughout the week, brokers said.

     The SET index closed at 894.07, down 3.37 with just 3.1 billion baht worth of shares traded.

  ''The market's moving sideways,'' said a broker at Ekachart Finance and Securities, adding that resistance was holding at 890.

 JAKARTA SHARE prices closed mixed with mild gains in lacklustre trade, brokers said.

  ''Trading was trapped within a tight range, with foreigners still hunting for quality stocks . . . while further correction was expected on over-bought positions,'' an institutional dealer said.

     The official index climbed slightly by 0.24 points to close at 355.43.

  The Chinese share prices are provided by Telerate. All other prices are provided by Reuter.



Tokyo fails to hold 20,000