Investors get anniversary blues

FIVE years ago this week, the last Asian economic crisis began, and today investors were wondering what had changed as equity markets slid to recent lows after Nasdaq's overnight slump.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 133.44 points to test March levels before recovering to close 26.88 up at 10,622.32. The Hang Seng index also tested four-month lows. Stocks in Thailand continued to backtrack after a star-studded first-half performance, and the SET index slipped 0.78 to 388.32, still a six-month gain of 37%. Five years ago it was testing 670 before the local currency was devalued on 2 July, triggering the 1997 Asian crash.

The sense of deja vu was deepened by Nasdaq's 4% overnight fall, which took it back to a level last seen five years ago, and sent technology stocks spinning down around the region. The Dow was also off, by 1.3%, despite strong manufacturing data from the US Institute for Supply Management, which came in ahead of most economists forecasts.

Adding to the nerves were the warnings that 4 June might be marred by further terrorist attacks on prime US targets. A minor recovery in the value of the greenback did nothing to boost support for Japan's exporters, and shares in carmakers fell by as much as 1% as analysts reworked forecasts based on a rate of below 120 yen to the dollar.

A slump in US semiconductor stocks overnight put pressure on the region's chip manufacturers, which tumbled as much as 6% in Tokyo.

Hong Kong returned to work after yesterday's celebrations of the fifth anniversary of the handover to China wondering what there had been to celebrate, as it has been a grim five years for the economy. The uncertainty of the timing of any recovery sent the Hang Seng index down

134.89 to 10,463.66. This day five years ago, the benchmark closed at 15,055 on its way to 18,301 in March 2000 but it has been downhill ever since. The economy is now mired in deflation, property prices have more than halved and unemployment runs at a record of nearly 8%.

While analysts argue that Hong Kong is due for some catching-up with other Asian markets, investors were unimpressed and sold property-based blue-chips, big exporters and, in the wake of WorldCom, anything to do with mobile phones.

After sinking into the red in early trade, Taiwan stocks, now back to their pre-January levels, managed a minor rally that left the Weighted Average up o.o1 at 4969.33.

Dithering South Korean investors sent the Kospi index a mite lower at 742.03, down 0.69, as earlier losses were reversed by a 13% surge in the price of Hynix Semiconductor on hopes of a revival of efforts to sell its assets. Singapore investors remained reluctant to chase bargains, and electronics and bank counters took the Straits Times index down 15.08 points to 1535.28.

Sydney's All Ordinaries index followed in the wake of Wall Street, and lost 16.5 points to close at 3159.2. News Corporation was the weakest link, as it lost almost 5% to a near four-year low.

Indonesian stocks continued to lose their gloss and the Jakarta Composite index dived 15.95 points to 476.31, but Malaysian stocks weathered the storm and the Kuala Lumpur Composite added 4.79 points to 729.44.

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.