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.67 a barrel; on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier falling as low as US.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 (HK0 billion) fund to support the stock market