Asian Internet stocks top U.S. stock market
PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept 9 (Reuters) - Investors in "dot com" stocks focused on the burgeoning Asian Internet sector Thursday, sending the stocks of two companies that serve that market up sharply.
PacNet <PCNTF.O>, a Singapore-based Internet service provider, was the biggest-gaining stock on the Nasdaq, surging $16 a share to close at $46.25, while the number two gaining stock was the Hong Kong Internet portal, China.com Corp. <CHINA.O>, which rose $12.19 to $74.88.
"There seems to be a tremendous bout of momentum coming out of the region," said Drew Ianni, international analyst for Jupiter Communications in New York.
"We're seeing increasingly robust projections for PC penetration, which ultimately drives Intenet growth."
Although U.S. industry analysts have only recently started to track these Asian companies, they suspect much of the current interest is simply a matter of investors looking for some relatively undiscovered segments of the Internet business that are ripe for growth.
Asia clearly fits that bill. In China and other nations, current user rates are well below that of the United States, but population numbers alone show a dizzying growth potential.
It is unclear whether companies like PacNet and China.com will capture most of the growth in these young markets, but Ianni suggests their familiarity with local cultures and languages, including multiple dialects in some countries, could give them an edge over U.S. leaders seeking to expand into Asia.
Although he warned against imposing U.S. growth rates of recent years on the Asian market, he said the recent rebound in several Asian economies had removed one large point of concern.
Jupiter projects that Internet use throughout China, including mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, will grow to 6.8 million households in 2003 from three million today. That translates into 23.2 individual Internet users in 2003 from 10.8 million today.
19:10 09-09-99 |
