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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (42718)	10/1/2001 10:25:15 PM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 65232

Asia Markets Nikkei dips; dollar above 120 yen Smaller Asian markets lower ahead of Fed policy meeting By Bill Clifford, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 9:40 PM ET Oct 1, 2001 TOKYO (CBS.MW) -- Japan's blue-chip stocks dipped 0.5 percent and the dollar held firm above 120 yen Tuesday, as investors cautiously awaited an expected cut in U.S. interest rates later in the day. Stock markets elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly lower. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei Average was down 49.94 points to 9,922.34 in midmorning trading. Japan's economic gloom deepened with a plunge in corporate confidence, according to an influential quarterly survey released Monday by the central bank. But pension funds and investment trusts are hunting for bargains using fresh capital in the fiscal second half, which began Oct. 1. The dollar edged higher at 120.30 yen in morning Tokyo trading, compared with a late quote of 120.15 in New York. Later Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates for the ninth time this year, with many observers anticipating another half-point reduction in overnight rates to 2.5 percent. That would be the lowest level in the key federal funds rate since the early 1960s. See full story. Business reorganization Investors sold off shares of Japanese technology companies whose earnings prospects look increasingly shaky as they reorganize their businesses. Semiconductor and computer maker NEC (6701) (NIPNY) tumbled 6.1 percent to 914 yen, while rival Toshiba (6703) shed 5.7 percent, both on volume of 18 million shares. Fund managers loaded up on inexpensive shares of shipbuilders, with volume leader Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012) soaring 12.8 percent to 141 yen, as 19.2 million shares changed hands. Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy (7013) jumped 10.8 percent to 267 yen, and Mitsubishi Heavy (7011) rose 2.9 percent to 425. Auto shares get a lift Fresh capital for the October-March half year also flowed into shares of Japanese automakers, which benefited from investor perceptions of recent yen weakness, as well. Nissan Motor (7201) (NSANY) advanced 4.6 percent to 520 yen. Shares of Toyota (7203) (TM) revved up 5.6 percent to 3,230 yen. Honda Motor shares (7267) (HMC) were 2.3 percent higher at 3,960 yen, after a published report that the company would repay all its outstanding bank loans, worth some $250 million, by the end of next March. The company was not immediately available to comment on the story in the Nihon Keizai newspaper. Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan stocks resumed trading after a holiday Monday, with the tech-studded Weighted Index dropping 2.54 percent to 3,544.47. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index dipped 0.15 percent to 1,330.28 Australia's All Ordinaries trimmed losses to trade 0.15 percent lower at 3,029.70, while New Zealand's NZSE-40 bucked the damp mood to advance nearly a percent higher at 1,854.08. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------