Asia Markets
Nikkei rises, overcoming tech woes
By Mariko Ando, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 11:43 PM ET Oct 15, 2001
Seoul, Taipei exchanges rise; telecoms gain groundTOKYO (CBS.MW) -- Asian stock markets turned broadly higher Tuesday, as Tokyo's defensive shares offset losses in chipmakers following a gloomy day for the Nasdaq and a batch of earnings jitters at home.
Tokyo's leading Nikkei Average rose 47.02 points, or 0.5 percent, to 10,499.56, rebounding from negative territory earlier. The broader TOPIX eased 0.1 percent to 1,070.73.
Pharmaceutical and rubber makers set the pace for winning sectors, underscoring the market's interest in less-volatile holdings at a time of growing uncertainty.
Leading drug maker Kyowa Hakko (KYKOF) (4151) rallied 3.9 percent to 28 yen. Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical (4503) added 0.9 percent to 3,240 yen on speculation that the U.S. anthrax incidents might boost their business activity.
Japan's top tire maker Bridgestone (BRDCY) climbed 6.1 percent to 1,186 yen.
But semiconductor shares, already shaky from the previous session, lost more ground. Negative brokerage comments triggered heavy selling overnight in U.S. chip shares. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange's Semiconductor Index dropped 4.7 percent.
Advantest (ADTTF) (6857), a top maker of semiconductor testing devices which issued a loss warning last Friday, lost 0.8 percent to 5,950 yen.
Fujitsu (FJTSY) (6702) shed 0.3 percent to 994 yen and those of Mitsubishi Electric (MIELY) (6503) fell 0.7 percent to 448 yen. Mitsubishi's handset-making business may lose money for a third year in the next financial year, said a Bloomberg report.
Pioneer (6773) (PIO), the world's largest audio equipment maker, dived 5.9 percent to 2,480 yen. The company is likely to see its profit for the year to total 15 billion yen ($124.2 million), compared with its earlier forecast of 21 billion yen, the daily Nihon Keizai reported.
In the currency market, the dollar was quoted at 120.74 yen late morning Tokyo, down from 120.85 yen late Monday in New York.
Korea, Taipei both higher as tech issues firm
In South Korea, recently battered telecom and tech shares pushed up the leading Kospi Index by 1.1 percent to 519.43 by late morning.
SK Telecom (SKM), the country's top cell phone service provider, saw its shares rise 1.8 percent to 228,500 won. LG Electronics (LECLP) gained 1.6 percent to 12,600 won.
Pohang Iron & Steel (PKX) climbed 2.5 percent to 86,300 won. POSCO is scheduled to post third-quarter business results later in the day.
Chipmakers advanced in Taipei, where the benchmark Weighted Index added 0.3 percent to 3,723.38 by mid morning session. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) rose 0.9 percent to NT$54, even after J.P. Morgan cut ratings in U.S. chip firms which are major customers of TSMC.
Personal computer maker Acer stood unchanged at NT$10.05. The company decided to suspended plans to sell shares in Acer Communications and Multimedia (ACMZL) and Ambit Microsystems overseas, said a Reuters report.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened up 68.28 points, or 0.7 percent, at 10,198.87, bouncing back from Monday's 1.4 percent fall.
BHP leads gains in Sydney, NZ index inches up
Australia's All Ordinaries Index advanced half a percent to 3,147.90 by late morning, helped by an ongoing strength in the resources sector.
BHP Billiton (BHP) jumped 1.9 percent to A$9.63. Anglo-Australian global resources giant's hot briquetted iron plant in Western Australia is performing well technically but still faces poor market conditions, Dow Jones news service quoted the company chairman Don Argus as saying.
WMC (WMC) climbed 2.6 percent to A$8.93, bringing the total gains at over 17 percent in the three-day winning streak. Speculation is mounting that U.S.-based industry titan Alcoa (AA) would soon launch a takeover bid worth 10.5 billion Australian dollars ($5.3 billion). See full story.
New Zealand's benchmark NZ Top 40 inched up 0.2 percent to 1,913.29 by early afternoon trade.
Air New Zealand's unrestricted B-shares (ANZBF) was standing steady at 28 cents. Investors showed little enthusiasm to the company's announcement that the government has paid NZ$300 million to Air NZ as part of its rescue package to keep the ailing airline flying.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 0.3 percent to 1,416.55 but Malaysia's KLSE Composite rose 0.6 percent to 622.38 points in early trade. |
