Asia Markets
Nikkei win streak edges into 4th day
TSMC up 1.4% on better outlook, but Taiwan market dips
By Bill Clifford, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 11:18 PM ET Nov 26, 2001
TOKYO (CBS.MW) -- Shares of chip and computer makers Fujitsu and Toshiba led the Tokyo market toward its fourth straight gain Tuesday, but declining Japanese bank stocks took the wind out of the rally.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng slipped 29.51 points, to 11,362.45, dampened by a 0.3 percent fall in shares of conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa (HUWHY) (0013). Banks and telecom stocks were little changed.
Elsewhere, the region's markets traded mixed, with the Philippines and Singapore higher, while South Korea and Taiwan were lower.
Yen weakness appeared to help nudge the Nikkei Average up 62.62 points, or 0.57 percent, to 11,126.92 at the mid-day break, but the broader Topix Index ended flat at 1,089.07.
In currency action, the dollar firmed to 124.36 yen, up 0.30 yen from the Tokyo open; the greenback had held just above the 124-yen level in late New York trading.
Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa told reporters he accepts the view of a Bank of Japan senior official that the yen should weaken further.
The country's banking sector woes were revealed in half-year results reports through Monday, as 13 major lenders projected they would incur a combined 6.26 trillion yen ($51.8 billion) in losses from bad-loan disposal for the fiscal year ending March 2002, more than three times as much as they had forecast in May.
Shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBJY) (8318) trimmed losses by the lunch break, down 1.9 percent to 725 yen. SMBC doubled its loan-loss charge estimates for the year, to one trillion yen, and said it expects to post a group net loss of 150 billion yen this fiscal year. See related story.
Shares of Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012) soared 8 percent to 135 yen. Japan's Defense Agency said Monday it had selected Kawasaki to lead development of two patrol aircraft, marking the first large-scale project of its kind in Japan in about 30 years.
Sony (SNE) advanced a second day, up 1.4 percent to 5,980 yen. But shares of NTT DoCoMo (NTDMY) (9437) dropped 1.7 percent to 1.74 million yen. The mobile phone giant announced late Monday a recall of 1,500 new 3G video-phones made by NEC because of a software glitch. See Internet Daily Asia.
Shares of NEC (NIPNY) (6701) rose 2.8 percent to 1,302 yen. Rival Toshiba, Japan's top semiconductor maker (6502), rose 1.3 percent to 559 yen. Fujitsu shares (FJTSY) (6702) gained 2.2 percent to 1,075.
Taiwan Semi strengthens
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker, rose more than 2 percent to lead the broader Taipei market higher before profit taking set in.
TSMC (TSM) was up1.4 percent at NT$75.00 in brisk trade, as local investors welcomed the company's higher forecasts for 2001 earnings.
The surprise announcement late Monday -- that TMSC raised its pretax profit forecast by 55 percent to T$9.35 billion because of a "substantial increase" in customer orders -- helped to boost chip stocks around the world. See full story.
Shares of United Microelectronics (UMC) rose 1.3 percent to NT$39.20, with 100 million shares changing hands to 85 million for bigger rival TSMC.
Via Technologies shares sank 2.6 percent to NT$130.50.
Seoul dips, Manila jumps
In South Korea, the red-hot blue-chip Kospi Index slipped 0.34 percent a percent from its 14-month closing high Monday to 672.45, down 2.11 points.
Shares of securities brokerages traded mixed in heavy volume, and profit taking contributed to an overall negative tone.
Volume leader Hynix Semiconductor added 0.3 percent to 1,950 won, but Samsung Electronics shed 0.2 percent to 229,500 won.
Shares of SK Telecom (SKM) slid 2 percent to 289,000 won, while Korea Telecom (KTC) fell 1.9 percent to 55,700.
Manila's PSE Composite, the region's best performer on the day so far, jumped 2.13 percent to close at 1,111.52. Investors paid less attention to clashes between Philippine and the Muslim guerrillas that they were pounding in southern city of Zamboanga.
Instead, market participants focused on remarks of Finance Secretary Jose Camacho, quoted by wire services as saying Monday that the World Bank's investment arm, the International Finance Corp., is responding positively to a request to provide guarantees to private sector companies tapping offshore debt markets.
Heavily indebted Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PHI), a market bellwether, climbed 3.2 percent to 402.50 pesos, despite a credit ratings downgrade from Standard & Poor's.
But San Miguel shares (SMGBY) fell 1 percent to 51.50 pesos. The food and beverage conglomerate was approached Hong Kong-based First Pacific as a potential buyer of property subsidiary Metro Pacific, but San Miguel reportedly isn't interested, according to a Business World article.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index was up 1.2 percent at 1,4893.56.
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