Asian Stocks: Japan's Nikkei Drops; Hong Kong, Taiwan Advance
By Michael Tsang
03/04 23:10
quote.bloomberg.com
Tokyo, March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell as investors judged the benchmark index's four-day, 12 percent rally as excessive given concerns the economy won't recover any time soon. Ito-Yokado Co. and other companies that depend on domestic sales dropped.
The Nikkei shed 0.5 percent to 11,392.17, a day after its biggest rally in almost a year. The Topix index lost 0.3 percent to 1075.44. Fewer than half of the Topix's sub-indexes rose, after all but one gained yesterday, on concern government measures to support stock prices won't be enough to sustain a rally past the end of the fiscal year on March 31.
``We'll have government support until the fiscal year-end, but we don't know what's going to happen after that,'' said Hajime Yagi, senior portfolio manager at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management Co., which handles about $1 billion in Japanese equities. ``The economy's problems will carry over into the new fiscal year.''
In other markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.9 percent as HSBC Holdings Plc tracked its U.K. shares higher after Chairman John Bond said the worst may be over following the bank's smaller-than-expected earnings.
Chip-related stocks advanced on signs industry demand is recovering, boosting Taiwan's TWSE Index, Korea's Kospi index and Singapore's Straits Times Index. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6 percent, led by Rio Tinto Ltd., on expectations industrial demand for metals will recover as economies emerge from recession. |
