US plan boosts world share prices
24-03-2009
Global share prices have surged following the announcement of the US plan to remove toxic assets from the balance sheets of American banks. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was up 462 at 13,910 - or 3.4 percent - its highest level in more than 10 weeks. The Nikkei Index in Tokyo gained 3.3 percent. The rally was led by HSBC, which added 9.8 percent to HK$45.80, while its rights shares soared 32 percent. Dealers said the local market is likely to consolidate in the near term after having risen 8.4 percent already this week. DBS Vickers Securities director Peter Lai said he expects the index to take a breather soon. "The new measures (by the US) lend more support to HSBC with its US exposure, but further upside is likely to be limited for the counter at around HK$46 in the short-term," he said. Conita Hung, head of equity markets at Delta Asia Financial, said she expects the index to find support at 13,200. "We see that market sentiment improved a lot in the past two weeks, but I think the index will soon find resistance at 14,000," she said.
