S&P-500 nears 5,000 level for 1st time
Major stocks in world in positive territory; Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai settled in the positive territory, while Hong Kong ended lower; European markets were trading in the green
image for illustrative purpose
Bangkok: Share were mostly higher in Asia on Thursday after the S&P-500 neared the 5,000 level for the first time. Hong Kong's benchmark fell while Shanghai advanced after China replaced its top stock market regulator. Tokyo surged two per cent on strong corporate earnings. Beijing has been struggling to prop up what have been some of the world's worst-performing markets this year. Late Wednesday, China's top stock regulator was replaced by a former chairman of the Shanghai Stock Exchange as part of those efforts. Wu Qing, also a former banker and ex-vice mayor of Shanghai, has been dubbed the broker butcher, analysts say, due to his record for cracking down on market abuses such as insider trading.
The announcement that Yi Huiman was being dismissed from his post as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission came without any explanation. But the ruling Communist Party may have chosen him as a way of signalling its resolve to protect smaller investors who have taken a drubbing in the recent sell-offs. Market observers have cited the lack of transparency surrounding how the markets are run as a factor undermining investor confidence.
On Thursday, the Shanghai Composite index gained 1.2 per cent to 23,862.31 and the Shenzhen Components index in China's smaller main market surged 2.2 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9 per cent, to 15,941.66 on heavy selling of technology companies, despite strong gains for property developers.
