May 22, 2001	atimes.com

Front ASIAN MARKETS: Rebalancing act A reshuffling of the world's most widely tracked indexes on Saturday by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) did not adversely effect regional bourses, in spite of playing up the importance of markets in the United States and the United Kingdom, and downplaying the significance of most Asian markets, including Japan. Indeed, the rebalancing helped drive Australia to another record close and pushed South Korea to a 15-week high. A rally in high-tech issues on the back of positive corporate results pushed share prices in Tokyo up 2.2 percent. The Nikkei-225 Index finished 299.06 points higher at 14,176.83, its highest close since May 8. The impact of MSCI's rebalancing was less severe than many investors had feared. High-tech firm KDDI led the winners by soaring 8.7 percent after announcing a positive profit forecast on Friday. Meanwhile, in Australia the Old Economy was behind a new all-time high on the stock market, as an increased weighting from MSCI and a resurgence in gold prices to a 15-month high spurred on investors. The All Ordinaries closed 29.3 points higher, or 0.8 percent at 3,369.2, while the new benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 31.2 points to end at 3,435.3. Index heavyweight News Corp's share price rallied 1.5 percent, while mining giant BHP, whose merger with UK-based Billiton is pending, climbed 2.4 percent to a record close. Similalry in Korea, a positive weighting by the MSCI in combination with a stronger performance on the Nasdaq led to a sharp rise in shares with the Korean Stock Exchange jumping to its highest level since February 2. The Seoul Composite Index leapt 18.42 points or 3.1 percent to close at 618.96 on steady buying by foreign investors. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 262.09 points, or 1.9 percent, higher at 13,721.27 despite plans to reduce the territory's MCSI weighting. The gains were widely regarded as a technical rebound. Share prices in Taipei were hit hard by a new report recommending that the currency be depreciated sharply. Wildfire selling pushed the market below the 5,000 support level. The Weighted Index plunged 153.06 points, or 3 percent to 4,958.61 In Manila, negative sentiment due to a downward revision of the country's rating by MSCI indices and delays in the tallying of local election results were partially mitigated by rumors of a possible tie-up between telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone and Japan's NTT DoCoMo. The Composite Index climbed 3.14 points, or 0.2 percent to 1,451.76. Despite lackluster activity and grey sentiment, share prices in Singapore managed to rise 0.2 percent. Despite disappointing economic forecasts, Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 4.05 points to close at 1,666.69. Strong buying in selected blue chips pushed share prices on Indonesia's Jakarta Stock Exchange up 0.95 percent. The Composite Index rose 3.548 points to finish at 380.380 despite concerns over President Abdurrahman Wahid's increasingly desperate struggle to stay in power. In Malaysia, stocks were minimally affected by a negative MCSI reweighting, but the market failed to come up any fresh directions. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index slid 3.30 points, or 0.6 percent, to end at 554.36. Finally, the Stock Exchange of Thailand closed lower on negative sentiment due to a negative reweighting on the MSCI indices. The Composite Index ended down 2.43 points, or 0.8 percent at 298.21. (Asia Times Online/Asia Pulse) ((c)2001 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)

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