From The Street.com:
In International section - need subscription to get into site. As for Y vs $ I'm not sure but in my experience a target price is normally quoted in trade exchange currency.
Asian Markets Update: Bucking a Downtrend, Tokyo Stocks Close up
By Kaya Laterman
Japan Correspondent
1/13/00 7:13 AM ET
Asian stocks closed mostly lower on heightened fears about a credit tightening in the U.S. but Japan managed to buck the trend as retail investors continued to pile into blue-chips to avoid volatile high-tech shares.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 155.87 at 18,833.29, while the Topix index, comprising of shares listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, rose 1.05 to 1657.97. The Jasdaq small-cap index fell 1.58, or 1.6%, to 94.87, while the Nikkei over-the-counter shares fell 24.61, or 1.1%, to 2219.41.
Although much of the selling in high-tech and Internet stocks was reportedly by foreign funds, domestic retail buying pushed the overall market higher on pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food producers and even real estate stocks.
"The individual investor still may be buying certain tech shares but they are increasingly looking for the next growth stock that has its main operations in Japan and not overseas," said Kazunori Jinnai, deputy general manager of equities at Daiwa SB Capital Markets.
Takara Shuzo boosted the overall biopharmaceutical sector, with shares closing up 215, or 9.2%, to 2565. Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical rose 90, or 1.8%, to 5040, Takeda Chemical Industries closed up 180, or 3.4%, to 5910. Food maker Meiji Milk Products (MSIKY:OTC) bounced 80, or 22.3%, to 439, while Japan Tobacco climbed 100,000, or 12.4%, to 909,000.
Kirin Brewery (KNBWY:Nasdaq ADS) jumped 125, or 10.1%, to 1365 after announcing an alliance with Medarex (MEDX:Nasdaq) to globally commercialize technology for creating human monoclonal antibodies.
Rattled by the downfall of Yahoo! (YHOO:Nasdaq) overnight, Sony (SNE:NYSE ADR) fell 1150, or 4.5%, to 24,250. NEC (NIPNY:Nasdaq ADR) dropped 95, or 4.1%, to 2215, while OTC favorite Trend Micro (TMIC:Nasdaq ADR) dropped 600, or 2.8%, to 20,900.
Yahoo! Japan, however, remained the market darling, thanks to bullish news on Softbank, its parent. Softbank was on a roll, up 5000, or 5.8%, to 91,600 after Goldman Sachs increased its 12-month price target on the firm to 184,000 Wednesday. Yahoo! Japan, which is 50.7% owned by Softbank,
rose 2 million, or 2.2%, to 93.4 million.
Traders also attributed the rise in Tokyo today to last-minute buying by foreign investors who were looking to boost the Nikkei 225 index, or the special quotation, ahead of the Nikkei January options contracts expiry Friday.
Meanwhile, the Japan Securities Dealers Association said it would like to start after-hours OTC trades sometime next month. The JSDA, which runs the OTC market, said investors will be able to buy shares at prices within 7% of latest market levels but failed to give more details.
Little happened in the foreign exchange market, with the greenback holding on around 105.60 yen. Japanese exporters again sold the dollar as the unit inched up towards 106 yen, while U.S. funds picked up currency as the price dipped.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 80.24 to 15,633.96 as interest rate worries in the U.S. and at home dragged property and blue-chips marginally lower. Bucking the trend, however, are two tech companies, both of which were grist for the rumor mill today.
Pacific Century Cyberworks picked up 1.250, or 7.8%, to 17.250 as traders speculated the firm, along with Japan's Hikari Tsushin, would announce a new business alliance at a press conference scheduled or Friday. Merrill Lynch also reiterated a buy recommendation for the firm, setting a 12-month target of 25.
The market also talked up a possible buy out of Cable & Wireless HKT, with possible takers including Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Hutchison Whampoa and Singtel. Shares climbed 1.150, or 5.8%, to 21.100, also on the news that its parent Cable & Wireless Communications (CWZ:NYSE) said it bought eight European Internet companies for $500 million and said it would invest an additional $500 million on its European Internet Protocol late in the Asian day.
Other parts of Asia closed marginally lower, with Korea's Kospi index down 3.96 to 951.05, Singapore's Straits Times down 33.24, or 1.4%, to 2394.32 and Taiwan's TWSE index down 37.46 to 9107.19. |
