JAPAN: STOCK MARKETS SURGE

(24 Nov 1998) English/Nat Japan's Nikkei index has surged by more than three hundred points - a sign Asia is at last coming to the end of its recession. Buoyed by Monday's resurrection on Wall Street, Tokyo's Nikkei had its first close above the psychologically-significant 15-thousand point level since August 25. The increase also comes in the same month that Japan announced a rescue package of nearly two (b) billion U-S dollars. Share prices in Tokyo jumped on Tuesday following a new record high on New York's Wall Street. The gain on the Tokyo stock market was thought to be in response to Wall street gains overnight, as the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rising 384.70 points, or 2.6 percent. It finished the session at 15-thousand-164.64, the index's first close above 15-thousand psychologically-significant point level since August 25. Japanese markets had been closed the previous day for a national holiday. But New York's Dow Jones industrial average rose 214.72 on Monday to close at a new record high of 9374.27 points. It was boosted by news of possible takeovers of Bankers Trust by Deutsche Bank and of Netscape Communications by America Online. The Dow's previous record was 9337.97, set in July. And the rally kept going in Tokyo. On the foreign exchange market, increased confidence in the U-S economy after the Dow's dramatic surge lifted the dollar against the yen. Many analysts believed the good signs from America were encouraging the surge. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I think the biggest reason is the strength again in the U-S. If we think back to two or three months ago, everyone was worrying about a global credit crunch- all those kind of issues. We have had interest cuts in the United States. Wall Street is back at a new high. All our problems seem to be over - so the Japanese market is just reacting very strongly to that." SUPER CAPTION: Jason James, analyst at HSBC Securities Traders said the dollar's advance was being capped by the Tokyo stock market's gains in response to the rise on Wall Street. On the foreign exchange market, Japanese institutional investors were snapping up dollars for yen following the bullish sentiment carried over from overseas trading on Monday. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond rose to 0.910 percent from Friday's finish of 0.900 percent, driving its price down to 107.98 yen from 107.92. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...