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SCMP Reporter

PRICES closed higher in Kuala Lumpur yesterday with buying centred on second-line stocks led by Faber Group and Advance Synergy.

   But falls in some blue chips dragged the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index down 3.62 points to close at 930.49. The index had surged to a record high of 939.16 points on Friday.

   Brokers said sentiment remained buoyant in anticipation of a favourable budget to be unveiled this Friday.

 ''The market should stay strong this week although some funds are seen pulling out,'' one broker said.

   Trading remained brisk as a string of rumours triggered heavy speculative buying in selected stocks.

  Faber led activity with 54.8 million shares. It rose 28 cents to M$3.06.

   Advance Synergy surged to a high of $4.04 on continued talk of an asset injection, before closing at $3.78, up 28 cents from Friday. Volume was 47.2 million shares.

   Turnover was 825 million shares against 760 million on Friday, while gainers led losers by 236 to 139. TOKYO THE Nikkei Average marked its fourth consecutive day of advances yesterday amid mounting hopes that the listing of East Japan Railway Co (JR East) today will generate a rally.

 ''Overall, a positive mood is prevailing ahead of the listing of JR East,'' said a broker at a second-tier brokerage.

  ''Investors' attention has shifted from smaller shares to larger ones which have had stable profits [in the past year],'' he said.

   The Nikkei 225 ended up 44.5 points or 0.22 per cent at 20,309.33, with about 300 million shares traded.

   The broader first section TOPIX index ended up 6.35 points or 0.38 per cent at 1,669.44.

   The Nikkei 300 closed up 4.24 points at 303.7 on Friday.

   The market opened higher and extended gains on futures-linked buying, with the Nikkei 225 peaking at 20,473.85, up 209.02, in early morning trading.

  Prices then fluctuated in positive territory until mid-day.

  But the market lost steam in the afternoon, and closed off its day's high.

   Formerly government-owned JR East shares will be listed today, with a face value of 50,000 yen.

   Initially, the shares were offered to the public at 380,000 yen.

   JR East is the first major state-owned company to be listed since Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in 1987.

   Market players hope the JR East listing will act as a catalyst to liven up the sluggish market.

  If the listing of JR East was successful the Nikkei could recapture and exceed this year's high of 21,148.11, brokers said.

   The yen's recent weakness encouraged investors to buy shares of big exporters such as car and electrical firms, brokers said.

  A weaker yen against the dollar should help those firms boost overseas sales.

   Turnover was about 300 million shares compared with 315 million on Friday. Declining issues led advances by about five to three, with 634 lower, 387 higher and 175 unchanged. MANILA SHARE prices closed down after a two-week run-up as the market succumbed to profit-taking.

 ''The market experienced a welcome breather,'' said Louie Bate of Baring Securities, who pointed to traders switching from blue chips into secondaries last Friday.

   The Manila composite index dropped about 28 points while Makati was off 47 points.

 ''The market remains strong however because a lot of the people coming in are global funds,'' said Gilbert Garchitorena of DBS Securities Philippines.

   Manila closed at 2,231.18 points while Makati fell to 2,280.07.

   Blue chips Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and Manila Electric B shares led the retreat as they shed 20 pesos and 7.50 pesos to 1,850 and 290, respectively.

   Turnover dropped to 1.62 billion shares worth 674.2 million pesos against the previous 6.45 billion valued at 1.23 billion pesos. SYDNEY A FALL in leading stocks, a weaker futures market and some concern about rising interest rates in the US took sharesto a softer close.

   Brokers said the market was also in a period of consolidation.

 ''This is a healthy shift after the strong gains we have had recently,'' one said.

   Brokers said they were not concerned about the All Ordinaries dropping 14.5 points to close at 2,046.9, as it had come off its intra-day low of 2,034.8.

   ''It moved off the bottom when some buying emerged late in the day,'' a broker said.

   Stocks that led this month's rally were pegged back, with BHP shedding 22 cents to A$16.94 and News Corp down 16 at $11.16.

  Western Mining lost 12 to $5.43, CRA was down four to $15.36 and Lend Lease was two weaker at $18.58.

  The market started weaker despite a round of rate cuts in Europe and a stronger finish on Wall Street on Friday.

   However, there was some uncertainty in the market after the Dow Jones industrial average came off its highs because of the hint of higher interest rates in the US.

 US Treasuries were spooked after Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan hinted that stronger US economic growth meant higher interest rates.

   The All Industrials index dropped 15.6 points to 3,188.4 and the All Resources fell 14 to 1,174.

   Turnover totalled 144.3 million shares worth $306.8 million with falls slightly ahead of rises.

  The gold marker plunged 38.2 points to 2,139.1 with Placer Pacific down 12 to $3.07 and Plutonic 30 cents softer at $7.20.

   North Flinders lost 30 cents to $12.30, while Mount Edon Gold gained 15 cents to $1.30. It announced last week that it had added nearly 750,000 ounces to its resources at the Tarmoola gold mine. SEOUL STOCKS closed higher in moderate trading as buying interest gained momentum across the board in what brokers described as a technical rebound.

   They said profit-taking in short-term finance counters emerged near the close, indicating the market lacked energy to stage a further rally.

 ''The market reacted to last week's retreat. But fundamentals are unchanged,'' said Chung Suk-ho of Hanshin Securities.

   The composite index ended 6.2 points higher at 742.48.

   Brokers said the market would lose steam today, when some institutional investors are expected to be sidelined.

   A total of 32.55 million shares worth 580.98 billion won changed hands compared with 20.22 million worth 356.18 billion won during Saturday's half-day trading.

   Gainers outpaced losers by 599 to 187 with 169 unchanged.

   Brokers said steel counters, whose exports have benefited from a rise in the Japanese yen, were performing well.

   Hanbo Steel and General Construction, and Sammi Steel went daily limit-up, rising 600 won and 400 won to 13,200 and 8,650 won, respectively. JAKARTA PRICES closed mixed in moderate trading, with the general economic deregulation package failing to boostmarket sentiment.

 ''The package had so far only benefitted JP Steel by tariff cuts on iron and steel products,'' one brokerage dealer said. JP Steel rose 125 rupiah or 5.6 per cent to 2,375.

   The official index fell 1.75 points to 464.47.

   The markets in Thailand, New Zealand and Taiwan were closed yesterday.

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



KL sentiment buoyant on budget hopes