On the bourses

Press, 5 August 1985, Page 34

On the bourses

Amsterdam After being mixed to lower throughout the week, prices closed hardly changed in thin and lacklustre trading in Amsterdam on Friday. Holiday period slackness still dampened activity, although some shares were boosted by moderate demand. The dull tone prevented the chemical group, Akzo, from reaching the highs many dealers had predicted after its favourable profit forecasts. The shipper, Nedlloyd, which also had steady gains during the week was unable to maintain its early rises. Both Royal Dutch and Unilever slipped, but the bank-

ing sector managed to show some minor gains. Trading on the European options exchange was relatively brisk.

Johannesburg Local buying support saw gold shares at highs early in the week in Johannesburg but these virtually lost all ground later as the bullion price failed to maintain its levels. By the close gold shares were narrowly mixed in subdued trading as the gold price continued weaker and speculative interest in the weak rand subsided. Mining financials, platinums, and diamonds mirrored gold, while the rest of the market finished mostly easier. Among heavy-weights, Buffels closed 1.50 rand firmer at 62.50, but President Brand lost 1.25 at 41.75. Cheaper issues moved up to 25 cents either way.

Frankfurt Further upward consolidation after recent losses saw share prices close the week generally firmer in Frankfurt after a fairly active session. Earlier in the week, the normally slack holiday period had been exaggerated by further reluctance on the part of buyers until some fresh direction in the dollar emerged. Foreign interest from Britain and Switzerland was evident later, especially in cars and electricals. The electrical blue chip, Siemans, whose first-half profit underpinned sentiment closed at 550.10, 6.10 marks up on Thursday’s close. Thyssen, in steels, dropped 1.50 to finish at 122.50, while Hoescht closed unchanged at 113. Hong Kong

An easier trend was evident in Hong Kong during the week, prices closing lower in light trading. There was also speculative selling pressure in the banking sector. Dealers said most small investors lightened their holdings before the weekend because a lack of corporate news and little chance of an imminent cut in local interest rates in view of the firm American rates. Second and third liners weakened in line with blue chips. The Hang Seng index finished 13.36 points lower at 1665.59. Institutions and the small investors still lacked incentives to enter the market, which will probably consolidate further before climbing over the 1700 level, brokers said. Singapore

Shares closed generally higher in Singapore in contrast to the earlier mixed tone, which saw the market shrugging off an economic committee’s recommendations to help the ailing Singapore economy. Price changes at the close were generally narrow, with interest selective and specula-

tive. The Straits Times Industrial index rose 5.25 points to 765.96 and the Stock Exchange all share index 0.56 points to 270.43. Sigma topped the active stocks with a volume of 713,000 units and closed 14c firmer at 3.24. Hotels, properties and commodities were about unchanged to a shade higher. Zurich The Swiss National Day holiday on Thursday interrupted trading in Zurich, with many operators still absent at the close. Trading was fairly thin ahead of the weekend but an improvement on Wall Street helped sentiment. Swissair was a firm feature in transports on further consideration of its first-half figures. Bearer shares rose 45 francs to 1375 and registered stocks added 20 to 1170. Industrial blue chips such as Ciba-Geigy and Nestle closed slightly higher while banks were firm. Tokyo Shares rebounded sharply on Thursday to end three days of falls and the market average gained 306.07 to 12,583.34, the biggest singleday rise this year and the second largest on record. The upward swing was largely a reaction to the drop in the average over the Erevious three days, spurred y a firming of the yen and enthusiasm generated by the start of the new month. Financials which had led the recent decline, also reversed their direction rapidly. However, at the close the average lost 12.58 points to 12,525.96 as prices eased off in active trading. Most internationally popular electronics and precision instruments remained strong and some biotechnologies improved after earlier shakiness. Dealers said the market should settle down somewhat, but September account balancing would bring more money to the market so the risk of volatility would increase.