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Asian market highlights:

TOKYO: Shares in Tokyo discounted Monday's Wall Street 89-point plunge and rebounded to end at a new four-year high, brokers said. They said the market was boosted by increased buying of high-tech shares in New York. Many brokers saw a further advance, particularly if the U.S. semiconductor book-to-bill ratio showed expected improvement.

The 225-share Nikkei average was up 319.93 points or 1.49 percent at 21,744.17, the highest since February 10, 1992, when it was at 21,819.52.

"I remain optimistic," said Martin Pankau, a salesman at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in Tokyo.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks closed mildly weaker, well off lows reached in immediate reaction to Wall Street's 89-point dive overnight, brokers said.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index ended down 32.51 points at 11,107.37, off a day low of 10,912.32. Turnover dipped to HK$4.36 billion from Wednesday's adjusted HK$4.54 billion.

"The market seems to be not that concerned about Wall Street, as it managed to bounce back somewhat in late trade overnight," said Boby Ho of G.K. Goh Securities.

"In fact, I detect some fresh inflow of U.S. funds into individual local stocks for the new quarter that goes beyond bargain hunting," he added.

BANGKOK: Thai stocks closed marginally higher as bargain hunters shrugged off Monday's fall on Wall Street to pick up bank and finance shares, brokers said.

The SET index closed 2.33 points, 0.17 percent, up at 1,335.67 after falling more than 11 points in the first 20 minutes of trade.

"Trade was very volatile today. Blue-chips fell sharply early in the morning but speculative buying was active later which helped push the index up," said a broker at Nava Finance and Securities said.

BOMBAY: Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) shares ended mixed after an early rise attracted heavy selling by local institutions as foreign funds continued buying into pivotals

The 30-share BSE index ended 0.09 points higher at a provisional 3,485.84 after rising to 3,508.58

Brokers said the close of weekly account on the rival National Stock Exchange also triggered position-squaring, pulling the market down at the finish.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka stocks closed a shade softer but turnover was propped up by blue chips, brokers said.

The Colombo Stock Exchange all share index closed 0.95 points lower at 668.45. "You can always find buyers for good volumes of blue chips. Whether it is in the middle of the holiday season or not, it does not matter," said a broker.

JAKARTA: Jakarta share prices ended lower with the focus on bank stocks, brokers said. The Jakarta composite index fell 0.29 points, or 0.05 percent, to 597.35 after hitting a low of 594.92. Gainers led losers by 63 to 52 with 38 issues unchanged.

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares drifted to close slightly lower in mixed trade after opening weaker on the Dow's overnight fall, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's Composite Index ended down 0.73-point to 1,133.90. The Second Board index rose 13.59 points or 2.90 percent to 482.24. "We discounted Wall Street's fall. But as far as volume is concerned, we're quite dead," said a trader.

MANILA: The Philippine equities market was closed for the National Heroes' Day. The market will reopen on Wednesday.

The composite index gained 23.40 points, or 0.80 percent, to end at 2,962.79 last Wednesday, its highest level since November 1994. Trading was cancelled on Monday due to a computer glitch.

SEOUL: Shares ended lower on poor sentiment as institutions sat sidelined and individuals dumped shares, brokers said. The composite index fell 7.21 points, or 0.82 percent to 869.82.

"With institutions frozen because they didn't want to break their net-buying stance and retail investors selling on jitters ahead of the general elections, the market had no choice but to go down," said Dongbang Peregrine broker Don Lee.

SHANGHAI: Shanghai's B share index ended lower as some major shares fell. The index fell 0.293 points or 0.59 percent to 49.573 points on volume of four million shares worth $1.3 million. Of 36 B shares, 27 traded, with 10 up, seven flat and 10 down.

SHENZHEN: Shenzhen's A share index ended lower as investors took profits, while B shares inched to a higher close following a three-session break for the Qingming Festival and Easter holiday, brokers said.

The A share index slipped 0.67 point to 119.65 with turnover dwindling to 417 million yuan from 505 million yuan on Monday.

The B share index inched up 0.05 point to 60.64 on turnover of HK$2.51 million, against HK$3.57 million last Wednesday.

Brokers said they expect trading on both the A and B share markets to become increasingly active in the run-up to the April 30 deadline set by regulators for mainland China-listed firms to release annual reports for 1995.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares ended firmer in thin deals.

The Straits Times Industrials Index ended 16.96 points, or 0.72 percent higher at 2,382.13.

Dealers said the sharp fall in Wall Streets stocks had little impact on the local market as much of the selling was done on Monday. "A lot of the selling that was expected already went though yesterday so today we saw a bit of bargain hunting but volumes were really thin," one local broker said.

SYDNEY: The Australian share market closed lower as players discounted Wall Street's weakness with a firmer resources sector just failing to overcome a slightly weaker industrials group.

The All Ordinaries index was 1.5 points, or 0.07 percent, lower at 2,221.0.

Brokers said that after falling off its perch in the opening minutes, the market climbed back, although turnover at only A$378 million remained uninspiring.

TAIPEI: Taiwan share prices ended slightly lower in heavy trade as the market consolidated after strong recent gains, brokers said.

The weighted index finished 10.08 points, or 0.18 percent, lower at 5,589.72. Turnover was a heavy T$72.50 billion.

The market had risen by more than 400 points in its previous three sessions on news that Morgan Stanley may include Taiwan in its worldwide indices.

"The huge gains before today made some investors think that the index has hit short-term resistance," said Bill Lan of Taiwan Securities Investment.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices ended soft but managed to claw back some ground by the close of trade.

The NZSE-40 Capital Index ended 5.12 points down at 2,127.78, off its low for the day of 2,116.94. Turnover was worth NZ$29.50 million.

Brokers said it was a reasonable performance given Wall Street's 88-point fall and bearishness on domestic and foreign debt markets.-Reuter