Asia Watch

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated: 18:00 EST, 27 March 2000

Brierley Investments has withdrawn its sought-after stake in Air New Zealand from sale as it completes the acquisition of Australian domestic carrier Ansett.

Singapore Airlines and BA's 25% interest Qantas are battling against each other to take a stake in Air New Zealand, which is 47% held by BIL.

But Air New Zealand, in turn, is paying A$580 million (£223 million) for the 50% of Ansett it does not already hold to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation as it builds a credible regional air system. Qantas yesterday turned up the heat on SIA, announcing its interest in Air NZ in what is essentially a spoiling move to stymie SIA's regional ambitions.

Qantas shares moved up marginally in Sydney before trading steady at A$3.65. BA paid the equivalent of A$2.66 a share when it bought its stake in 1993.

Shares in BIL, which is soon to change its domicile from Wellington to Singapore, were off 2%, although shares in Asian syndicate Camerlin, which now controls BIL, were sharply higher in Kuala Lumpur. SIA was firmer in Singapore.

Still in Sydney, the market continued to enthuse over Kerry Packer's latest play, the transformation of his slumbering FXF Trust into his new investment vehicle.

Shares in FXF powered on, adding 6.5% to A$2.13 as investors ponder Packer's next move. The All Ordinaries was up a modest 1.6 at 3227.2.

Carmaker Mitsubishi Motors continued to be the centre of attention in Tokyo, with the company set to unveil another restructuring plan following yesterday's US$2.1 billion (£1.3 billion) deal with DaimlerChrysler.

Shares in Mitsubishi firmed 2% on opening, only to dip into negative territory in late trading. Among other active stocks, one-time internet high-flyer Softbank continued its decline, down more than 5% to 76,900 yen, bringing its fall over the past month to 60%.

NTT companies rebounded strongly, the NTT parent up 5.8% to 1.63 million yen while mobiles affiliate NTT Docomo gained 4.2%.

Overall, sentiment was weaker on the Tokyo market as investors took profits after yesterday's strong gains. The Nikkei 225 Average was off 193.16 to 20,087.87. Hong Kong shares weathered early profit-taking to move further into record territory, the blue-chip Hang Seng index up 16.54 at 18,309.40.

Gains for heavyweight Hutchison Whampoa helped support the market, the shares up HK$2 to HK$151 after it revealed an US$800 million e-commerce deal with US firm Oracle, to be targeted at the freight transport market. The back-door transformation of market sleepers continued, with Hutchison and Sweden's Ericsson wading into one-time property firm Guoco Land. Its shares soared more than 63%

China-linked Citic Pacific jumped 4% on news of an US$80 million deal with American telco Lucent.

Elsewhere, most markets traded in a narrow range with a 1.1% move in Thailand the biggest change, the SET up 4.82 to 413.06.

After early losses, Taiwan's Composite continued its ascent, up 42.96 to 9850.53, while Korea's Kospi added 7.97 to 894.68. Singapore's Straits Times improved 7.93 to 2225.

Moving lower were Malaysia's Composite, off 7.79 at 980.58, and Jakarta's Composite down 1.5 to 583.73.