Asia Markets
Tokyo firms as yen weakens vs. dollar
BOJ intervenes in the market to support greenback
By Mariko Ando, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 5:07 AM ET Sep 27, 2001
TOKYO (CBS.MW) - Tokyo stocks reversed losses Thursday as exporters gained after Bank of Japan intervened again to weaken the yen. Other markets in the region were mixed after Wall Street failed to muster a third straight day of gains.
The dollar jumped against the yen in early afternoon as the BOJ stepped into the market to with dollar buying to weaken the yen. The dollar was quoted at 118.60 yen by late morning Tokyo, up sharply from 117.75 yen at midday Tokyo, and 117.69 yen in New York late Wednesday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei Average added 0.57 percent, or 54.83 points, to close at 9,696.53. The broader Topix firmed 0.55 percent to 1,003.78.
Trade was cautious as investors kept purchases to a minimum ahead of key economic data on Friday.
"Investors were a bit disappointed that the U.S. market is still lacking energy. Technically, Wall Street needed to post gains for four days in row to show that it has regained confidence," said Teruhisa Ishikawa, deputy manager of the investment products planning section at Izumi Securities.
"On top of that, the market is sidelined ahead of the release of key Japanese economic data tomorrow," he said.
The government is scheduled to release data on August jobless, industrial output and household spending. But Ishikawa said the market is expecting negative data and that stocks will remain sluggish.
The BOJ's latest action helped exporters, especially automakers. Toyota Motor (TM) (7203) climbed 3.3 percent to 2,945 yen. Honda Motor (HMC) (7267) rallied 5.8 percent to 3,830 yen.
Video game maker Nintendo (NTDOY) (7974), which relies on overseas revenues, rose 1.7 percent to 15,990 yen.
But chipmakers such as Toshiba and NEC (NIPNY) (6701) declined after analysts lowered earnings estimates on a number of companies including IBM (IBM), citing business disruptions and economic uncertainty caused by the Sept.11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Toshiba (6502) dropped 3.1 percent to 467 yen. NEC fell 2.4 percent to 1,067 yen. Hitachi (HIT) (6501) sank 2.5 percent to 782 yen.
Sony (SNE) (6758) added 0.9 percent to 4,390 yen. Sony plans to boost the ratio of commodity-grade parts procured from Asian manufacturers outside Japan to 50 percent of total purchases to slash procurement costs. See full story.
Cell-phone giant NTT DoCoMo (NTDMY) (9437) jumped 4.7 percent to 1.55 million yen. The cell phone giant is scheduled to roll a nationwide third-generation cell phone service on October 1.
Taipei falls 1.6%, HK closes up 2.4%
Taiwan stock prices tumbled after the International Monetary Fund released a disappointing economic outlook for the island. The benchmark Weighted Index dropped 1.6 percent to 3,567.63.
The IMF forecast that Taiwan will post a 1 percent contraction in 2001, the worst among the major economies in Asia. Among other economies in the region, South Korea will be able to achieve a growth of 2.5 percent and Hong Kong 0.6 percent, said the IMF.
The world's foundry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) dropped 4.1 percent to 46.50 Taiwan dollars. Goldman Sachs cut its fourth-quarter earnings-per-share forecast for TSMC to T$0.01 from T$0.16 due to heightened economic uncertainty in the aftermath of the deadly attacks on the U.S, according to a Reuters report.
Rival United Microelectronics (UMC) lost 4.4 percent to T$26.10. Goldman Sachs also cut its EPS forecasts for UMC to T$0.13 from T$0.28 for 2001 and to T$0.03 from T$2.23 for 2002.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index overcame early losses to close up 229.04 points, or 2.44 percent, at 9,600.79.
Banking shares extended gains. HSBC Holdings (HBC) (0005), Europe and Hong Kong's largest bank with a large exposure to the U.S. economy, added 1.3 percent to 76.50 Hong Kong dollars. Bank of East Asia (0023) rose 0.7 percent to HK$15.30.
China Mobile (CHL) (0941), the mainland's largest mobile phone company, added 1.7 percent to HK$23.80. Rival China Unicom (CHU) (0762) advanced 2.5 percent to HK$8.20.
But Cathay Pacific Airways (CPCAF) (0293) lost 3 percent to HK$6.45. The city's only long-haul airline is seeing a drop in its business since the terrorist attacks and is reviewing costs and capital spending, Reuters quoted Chief Executive David Turnbull as saying.
South Korea's Kospi closed down 0.1 percent at 462.38 points. The world's leading chipmaker for computer memory chips, Samsung Electronics, lost 0.7 percent to 140,500 won. SK Telecom (SKM) gave up 3.2 percent to 209,000 won.
In Sydney, the All Ordinaries Index advanced 0.32 percent to close at 2,941.60. News Corp. (NWS) lost 1.7 percent to 12.11 Australian dollars. The company's chairman Rupert Murdoch has warned in an internal memo of dramatic cuts in the global media giant's capital expenditure plans and of tough times ahead, the Australian Financial Review reported.
New Zealand's NZ Top 40 closed up 0.26 percent at 1.848.77. Air New Zealand's unrestricted B shares (ANZBF) outperformed the market, leaping 33.3 percent to 40 cents.
In Manila, the benchmark PSE Composite shed 0.24 percent to close at 1,141.59.
Singapore's Straits Times Index was trading up 2.07 percent at 1,304.14 by late afternoon. Malaysia's KLSE Composite jumped 1.63 percent to 612.33 by late afternoon.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite lost 1.49 percent to 395 by late afternoon. The country's Muslim cleric association has called for a "holy war" if the U.S. attacks Afghanistan.
Pakistan's Karachi 100 rose 1.56 percent to 1,141.16 points by mid afternoon. IMF directors approved a $135-million credit to Pakistan and urged the government to pursue economic reforms, especially in the light of uncertainty sparked by the September 11 suicide attacks against the U.S., according to an AFP report.
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