960408

Asian market highlight

TOKYO - Shares in Tokyo closed sharply lower on Monday, as investors sold down their holdings, concerned over a possible Wall Street tumble when the U.S. market reopens after the Easter holiday. Brokers said data showing strong U.S. jobs growth in March convinced many investors that American interest rates were headed higher. But some brokers expect the Tokyo stock decline to be short-lived, with a possible recovery as early as Tuesday depending on how the Dow fares.

The 225-share Nikkei average was down 271.60 points, or 1.25 percent at 21,424.24. The Dow Industrials did not trade on Friday.

"The market must have discounted most of a possible decline in New York, though I'm not sure what will happen if the Dow falls 100 points," said Shuji Yasuma of Kankaku Securities.

BANGKOK - The Thai share market was closed for a holiday.

BOMBAY - Position-building ahead of an expected resumption of purchases by foreign institutions sent the Bombay Stock Exchange higher. The BSE 30 index closed at a provisional 3,472.83, up 28.97 points.

COLOMBO - The Colombo Stock Exchange all share index closed 2.99 points down at 669.40, on modest turnover of 6.61 million rupees (US$121,000). Brokers said many investors were still away on holiday.

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong bourse was closed for the Easter holiday.

- - -

JAKARTA - Share prices ended lower despite active trade in secondliners as the composite index slid 7.44 points, or 1.23 percent, to 597.64. Textile stocks were hit hard as textile exports are expected to fall this year.

KUALA LUMPUR - Blue chips sank on news of a large trade deficit in January and fears of a fall on Wall Street. The index ended down 18.46 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,134.63.

MANILA - Trading was cancelled due to a computer problem. Officials said that the market would be closed on Tuesday for a holiday and that they hoped to be able to resume trade on Wednesday.

SEOUL - Shares closed little changed on Monday after government steps to support prices helped calm jitters caused by a North Korean campaign to destroy an armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, brokers said.

The composite index ended at a provisional 877.03, up 0.17 point from Saturday. But losers led gainers by 439 to 346.

By afternoon, investors discounted North Korea's weekend incursion into a sensitive border area as a diplomatic gambit aimed at pressing Washington to agree to direct military talks with Pyongyang, brokers said. But political uncertainty continued over general elections on April 11.

SHANGHAI - Shanghai's B share index ended lower amid weak sentiment and the absence of foreign investors due to the Easter holiday, brokers said.

The B index fell 0.141 point, or 0.28 percent, to 49.866 on volume of 495,000 shares worth $147,000, the third lowest volume this year. Of 36 B share issues, only 15 were traded, with five falling, eight unchanged and two ending higher.

SHENZHEN - Shenzhen A shares managed a modest advance on institutional demand for a handful of low-priced counters regarded as likely to report solid results for 1995.

Brokers said they were pessimistic of seeing further gains as some listed firms have become over-valued suggesting profit-taking could set in later this week.

The A share index ended 1.41 points firmer at 120.32 on an expanded turnover of 505 million yuan (US$60.8 million) from 426 million (US$51.3 million) on Friday. There was no trading on Shenzhen's hard-currency B share market in line with the closure of the Hong Kong exchange for the Easter holiday.

SINGAPORE - Shares ended sharply lower on fears of a U.S. market fall after Wall Street reopens from the Easter holiday. The local index lost 31.31 points, or 1.31 percent, to 2365.17. Property shares led the retreat.

SYDNEY - The market was closed for the Easter holiday.

TAIPEI - Taiwan share prices closed up in heavy trade on Monday despite profit-taking pressure, as the heavily-weighted financial sector continued to soar on news that the local index may be included in Morgan Stanley's worldwide indices, brokers said.

The weighted index rose 18.67 points, or 0.33 percent, to 5,599.80. Turnover was a hectic T$82.46 billion (US$3.05 billion), a single-session high since December 31, 1994.

The market, which had risen by a total of more than 400 points on Friday and Saturday, opened lower as non-financial sectors encountered profit-taking. But extreme bullishness in financials supported the market, brokers said.

WELLINGTON - The bourse was closed due to the Easter holiday.-Reuter