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Strategies & Market Trends : Stock Attack II - A Complete Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JRI who wrote (2157)	3/6/2001 11:51:53 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 52237

Asian Technology Shares Surge Tuesday March 6, 11:35 pm Eastern Time By Ben Richardson SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian technology shares surged early on Wednesday following a rally in their U.S. counterparts, but profit-taking sapped Tokyo's gains by the midday close. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei stock average fell back 0.19 percent by the end of the morning session to 12,664.11 points, having been as high as 12,824.19 earlier. Tech stocks, which had enjoyed two days of strong gains, met a wave of profit-taking. ``It's natural to see profit-taking on high-tech issues today,'' said Toshihiro Koizumi, fund manager at Chuo Mitsui Asset Management. ``We see the bounce as a technical rebound in a longer-term downtrend.'' Tech issues had been rising in line with their U.S. counterparts, as sentiment in New York turned more positive. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 2.87 percent to close at 2,204.43 on Tuesday. The yen came under renewed pressure as Japan's political and economic ills added to negative sentiment. ``What the market needs is the (Japanese) government leading reform, and this is hardly visible,'' said Karl Broeker, head of Treasury at Landesbank Baden-Wuerrtenburg in Singapore. The dollar was at 118.88 yen after a bounce from 118.25 in New York. The euro performed even better, shooting to 111.20 yen from a 109.55 trough. That in turn helped lift it to $0.9348 to the dollar from lows around $0.9250 on Tuesday despite soft German jobs data. TAIPEI, SEOUL RISE The U.S. rise fuelled gains in Seoul and Taipei, both markets sensitive to movements in the technology sector. The benchmark Korean Composite Share Index (KOSPI) rose as high as 576.94 points, led by Samsung Electronics, before falling back to trade at 569.6, 0.26 percent higher by 0335. Samsung, the world's largest computer memory chipmaker, was 4.2 percent higher at 198,500 won. Taiwan's TAIEX proved more resilient, holding onto its 2.09 percent rise led by semiconductor issues following a 5.54 percent rise in the Philadelphia semiconductor index Hong Kong investors were keeping to the sidelines ahead of the release of the territory's budget later on Wednesday. The Hang Seng Index was trading up 0.10 percent at 14,334.9 points by 0325 GMT. In Sydney, shares on the S&P/ASX 200 were only 0.67 percent firmer. A 25 basis point rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia ahead of the market's open failed to give the hoped-for lift. ``The rate cut was well and truly factored in, and overall, interest rates are not that big a deal, with monetary policy not looking that effective,'' said BT Fund Management dealer Jason Hackett. ``Just look at the GDP number. It was shocking, well below consensus.'' Gross domestic product data showed the economy shrank 0.6 percent in the December quarter, against analyst expectations of flat growth. OIL FIRMS U.S. NYMEX crude futures reversed early losses to maintain a firm tone in electronic ACCESS trading on Wednesday after weekly inventory data showed U.S. crude supplies fell to fresh 25-year lows. At 0130 GMT, April crude last traded at $28.51 per barrel, up 19 cents from the New York settlement of $28.32 when it fell 28 cents.