Bold buyers sift through wreckage

CALM followed the storms in Asian equity markets as investors were encouraged by Wall Street's stoic performance to start seeking profit among the debris caused by the WorldCom scandal.

Buying was limited to bolder souls and none of the regional markets could completely claw back Wednesday's heavy losses. There was widespread relief, however, that fears of a bloodbath on Wall Street had proved groundless. After early tremors, New York markets had bounced back in late trade, helped by a lack of action by the Fed on interest rates and encouraging housing starts which continue to point to a US recovery.

As far as most Asian investors were concerned WorldCom was a big US domestic problem, but concern about the strength of the US economic rebound and the continuing weakness of the dollar acted as a restraint on buyers. Tokyo's stocks halved Wednesday's 4% fall in early trading, helped by short covering, and the Nikkei 225 Average rallied 187.04 points to 10,261.60.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also recouped much of Wednesday's losses with a 162.2-point rise to 10,518.1 but South Korean stocks, which fell more than 7% on Wednesday, could only manage a 2% rally.

Japan's big exporters were caught in a two-way pull between record housing starts in the US, which should push up demand for consumer durables, and the rise in the yen. The Japanese currency has risen 10% against the greenback in the past three months, and today was hovering around 120 to the dollar despite heavy intervention by the Bank of Japan.

Gainers on hopes of US demand included shares in top consumer electronics groups Sony Corporation, up 3.5%, and Canon, which rose 1.5%, but the rising yen left motor shares spinning their wheels.

Although South Korea's Kospi scored its biggest daily rise in two months, with a 16.90-point jump to 718.77, the jury is still out on the market returning to its former star status in the near future. Its recent decline comes in the face of a firming economy, expected to grow 6% this year, which today prompted the Fitch agency to raise its rating two notches to A status.

A combination of short covering and cautious buying of undervalued bluechips pushed Hong Kong stocks ahead, with HSBC Holdings among the top gainers, up HK$1.50 to HK$88.50. Hair-trigger selling into any signs of a recovery in Taiwanese stocks left the market out of the partial regional rally, and the Weighted Average dipped 49.42 to 5073.62.

Singapore's computer software suppliers provided most of the bounce in the Straits Times index, which recovered 12.55 to 1544.7. Nerves in Sydney were still jangling after Wednesday's fall to recent lows, though the All Ordinaries index gained 83.2 at 3212.9. The haemorrhaging of News Corp shares was stifled with a 2% gain, but this followed a 7% tumble Wednesday. Resources stocks took heart from the firing global oil price, and BHP Billiton added more than 1%.

The Jakarta Composite index added more than 1% with a 5.39-point gain to 508.89. Thailand's SET index put on 2.57 points to 383.78 and Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite rose for the first time in a week, up 6.59 to 711.63.

Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed on the site.