Markets stagger back
Written by Writer on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Markets stagger back
Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks staged an astonishing recovery Tuesday, rebounding by more than 14 per cent as markets from Bangkok to Europe mostly reversed the heavy losses of Monday.
Monday’s losses in Hong Kong were the worst one-day fall for 11 years.
But the blue-chip Hang Seng Index climbed 1,580.45 points, or 14.35 per cent on Tuesday, to close the day at 12,596.29 points, recovering all its losses from Monday in one of its biggest one-day rallies ever.
The Stock EXchange of Thailand posted a mild gain, rising 8.46 points, after dropping more than 10.5 per cent on Monday. The SET index failed to push back over 400 point during afternoon trading, hitting just 395.89.
European stocks rebounded late Tuesday on the back of the rally in Asian shares.
Europe’s blue-chip Stoxx 50 rose 2.7 per cent to 2,115 in early trading.
This was reflected across national bourses with shares in London, Frankfurt and Paris gaining more than 3 per cent as the morning session got under way. Stocks in Zurich were up 1.7 per cent.
The surge in Hong Kong share prices, driven by bargain hunters, came after shares plummeted by 12.7 per cent Monday, their biggest one-day fall since the height of the Asian economic crisis in October 1997.
Analysts were cautious about Tuesday’s recovery, however, calling it a “technical rebound” and warning the index could fall further as the global slump continues in the coming days and weeks.
Tokyo stocks rebounded from a 26-year low as the yen fell against the dollar and euro, investors hunted for bargains and the government instituted new restrictions on short selling. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average soared 459.02 points, or 6.41 per cent, to close at 7,621.92, nearly erasing all of its 486.18-point loss from Monday.
The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also was up 37.57 points, or 5.03 per cent, at 784.03.
The gains ended a four-day losing streak, which wiped out nearly a quarter of the Nikkei’s value.
Chinese shares gained 2.81 per cent on Tuesday, following Hong Kong. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.81 per cent, or 48.47 points, to close at 1,771.82. The Shenzhen index rose 2.73 per cent, or 156.31 points, to close at 5,891.12 points.
Shares jumped more than 5 per cent on the Seoul stock exchange on bargain hunting, although South Korea’s currency lost further ground against the dollar. The benchmark Kospi index soared 52.71 points, or 5.6 per cent, to close at 999.16. Advancing issues outpaced decliners 624 to 230.
Taiwan stocks also rebounded to post gains of nearly 1 per cent after a steep opening fall. he benchmark TAIEX index lost nearly 6 per cent in early morning trading, but recouped to post a 0.76 per cent increase by the close.
Analysts attributed the rebound to the rallies on major Asian markets, which followed heavy losses Monday. (Compiled by BangkokPost.com from agency reports)
