Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) – There were small signs of recovery on Asian markets today after yesterday’s heavy losses. After Wall Street’s negative closure at minus 5.6%, most indexes opened this morning in the negative. But by mid-morning trading they had all gained ground.
Tokyo closed at 0.8%; Hong Kong 4.5%; Taiwan1.9%; Singapore 0.8%; Seoul 3.7%.
In Asian trading, light, sweet oil for January delivery edged up 25 cents to US$49.67 a barrel; on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier falling as low as US$48.25, the lowest since May 2005.
The general out look however remains pessimistic. Market analysts confirm that “after tanking for so many days there will always be a belief that you just can't draw a straight line down. There may be a day or a day and a half of respite”.
Shanghai and Hong Kong indexes rebounded into positive territory after a rise in US stock futures and a rumour that Beijing would soon cut interest rates again. Fund managers also noted a rumour that mainland authorities might soon announce the creation of a 300 billion Yuan (HK$340 billion) fund to support the stock market
