But share prices failed to extend their opening gains due to a lack of follow-through buying as investors adopted a wait-and-see stance, brokers said. The 225-issue Nikkei average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended 85.11 points higher at 14,096.30, after falling to the day's low of 14,016.81 points near the close. Buyers remained cautious due to concerns about the outlook for the US markets ahead of Thursday's Congressional impeachment debate on President Bill Clinton, they said .

The Topix index of all issues on the first section gained 4.12 points to 1,093.39. Turnover was modest, with anestimated 336 million shares changing hands on the major board against Tuesday's 409.6 million shares.

A proposal of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Tax Research Council for more than nine trillion yen (77.5 billion dollars) in tax cuts, including four trillion yen in income tax cuts, did not have any substantial impact on the market, brokers said.

"Share prices have come back to where they are now after they bottomed in early Octobr on hopes for an improvement in the economic fundamentals as well as the res toration of the stability of the financial system," the Nichiei broker said. "But, they (prices) are not going anywhere without firm evidence of the macro economy going forward, now that the Tankan survey has confirmed the economy remains in a bad shape."

Results of the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey on business confidence tumbled to their worst level for nearly five years, offering little sign of recovery for the recession-hit economy.

Listless trade in Hong Kong
Hong Kong shareprices fell 0.1 per cent on Wednesday in a featureless trade despite an overnight rally on Wall Street. "With such a low turnover, everybody is in the holiday mood with the Christmas coming. Nobody wants to take a position," said Lino Delgado, associate direct or at Amsteel Securities. The key Hang Seng index lost 13.45 points to close at 9,839.39.The value of the turnover totalled 2.752 billion Hong Kong dollars (US $ 355 million), down from the previous day's 3.152 billion dollars. The market opened strongly after the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York rallied, but selling pressure pushed the index down to close 1.74 points lower by the end of the morning session.

Dealers said the overnight gains on Wall Street had been widely discounted and there were no signs of significant window-dressing by fund managers ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays. Annio Kwong, Asia Financial Securities research manager, said investors were staying sidelined with uncertainty about whether the US House ofRepresentatives will vote on Thursday to impeach President Bill Clinton.

Kwong said he expected little year-end window-dressing, with the Hong Kong market only down 8 per cent compared to its level at the end of last year, making the stocks relatively dear compared to other regional markets. He expected the market to trade between 9,800-10,120 points for the rest of the month.

Seoul down sharply on profit-booking
South Korean share prices plunged 5.8 per cent on Wednesday amid heavy profit-taking, following two days of record gains by the volatile market. A Shinyoung Securities dealer said the correction had been waiting to happen. "As retail investors tend to be easily heated and cooled simultaneously, the market saw sharp losses on massive retail selling," he said.

The dealer said foreign investors resumed buying in blue chips, while individuals took profits in securities stocks after their sharp gains. The Korea Stock Exchange composite index closed the day down 33.89 points at 545.97, offa low of 539.55 and a high of 599.32, on extremely heavy volume of 392.3 million shares worth 3.3 trillion won (US $ 2.7 billion).Declines outnumbered advances 730 to 131, with 23 stocks unchanged.

Foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth an estimated 52.7 billion won (US $ 43.5 million), institutions were net sellers of 57.6 billion won and retail investors were net sellers of 7.0 billion won.

Dongwon Securities analyst Kim Sae-Jung said the stock market was expected to see further profit-taking in coming days after leading shares such as securities coun ters came under strong pressure Wednesday. Kim said trading was very volatile, which he said signaled further correction was likely.