Goldman boost fails to spur investors

ASIAN investors could drum up little enthusiasm at the prospect of Goldman Sachs bringing a US$1bn (£704m) fund to the regional markets table today. Most appeared willing to sell their stocks to the investment bank and walk away with the profits, and Asian markets were left mixed.

Tokyo was heavily hit by profit-taking. Turnover was subdued as traders awaited indications of how Japan's pension fund industry will be allocating assets. Four days of gains by the Nikkei 225 ended abruptly as it lost 311.97 to 11,607. Goldman Sachs is reported to have a billion dollars earmarked for Asian recovery plays this year, although no details of where the money will go have been released.

The Government Pension Investment Fund is expected to reveal its plans today for buying stocks in the new financial year. The recently strong banking sector took the brunt of heavy selling, which saw industry leader Mizuho Holdings fall almost 4%.

Hong Kong stocks were virtually lifeless, with the Hang Seng index down just 0.37 to 11,318.50. Attention was focused on H shares - mainland Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong. Indications from People's Bank of China officials that the government is prepared to let mainland citizens invest in these stocks lifted the sector almost 3%.

The rises were balanced by falls in blue-chips after Wall Street's weak performance, while Cathay Pacific slumped almost 4% on reports that the airline was planning to invest heavily in new aircraft despite the weak operating conditions.

After closing at a 17-month high yesterday, Taiwan's market was pulled back by profit-taking and weakness in semiconductor stocks following overnight falls in the US. Big makers of memory chips fell as much as 3%, but the fall of 70.42 points to 6125.84 in the Weighted Average was softened by stronger bank stocks after investors applauded a decision by the Beijing government to allow Taiwan banks to open branches on the mainland.

South Korea stocks challenged the regional downtrend as attention switched from its technology counters to banking shares on the possibility of a round of mergers and acquisitions. The Kospi extended recent gains with 7.07-points rise to 834.09 after reports that Hana Bank is planning to merge with Korea First Bank boosted its shares 4.5%.

A slide in Singapore technology stocks which took the Straits Times index down 11.13 points to 1793.97 was led by Creative Technology. The Soundblaster computer card group, which has soared this year, fell back 2% after it was judged to have paid too much for a US graphics chip company.

Concerns that Australia's economy is accelerating rapidly to the point where the monetary brakes will have to be applied kept investors away. Bank shares were depressed by the prospects of rising interest rates, while News Corp slipped on signs that Wall Street's rally might be wobbling. The All Ordinaries fell 14.2 to 3407.9.

Thai stocks staged a modest rally which took the SET index up 2.29 points to 389.98 but the Composite index in Kuala Lumpur dipped 7.40 to 753.61, ending an eight-day rally, while the Jakarta Composite was off 3.98 at 470.04.

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