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

To: stockman_scott who wrote (46938)	1/23/2002 10:53:45 PM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 65232

Tokyo stocks up; yen at 39-month low By Mariko Ando, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 10:40 PM ET Jan 23, 2002 Tech-buying lifts Seoul, Taiwan markets TOKYO (CBS.MW) - Tokyo stocks bounced back sharply by midday on Thursday as the Nasdaq's rally and the yen's continued slide fueled buying in export-oriented technology shares. The Nikkei Average gained 142.81 points, or 1.4 percent, to end the morning session at 10,183.72. It was poised to snap a three-day losing streak. The broader Topix rose 1 percent to 984.63, after hitting a near 17-year low the previous day. Market heavyweight technology issues led the market higher, following a 2.1 percent jump in the Nasdaq overnight. Other exporters such as automakers also benefited from a continued slide in the yen. The yen stayed at a 39-month low against the dollar in early trade on hopes Fed chairman Alan Greenspan might give some sign of optimism about the U.S. recovery. Greenspan is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee later in the day on monetary policy, the markets and the economy. Investors are looking for clues on the next move on interest rates when the Fed's Open Market Committee meets next week. The yen traded at 134.50 per dollar, compared with 134.55 yen in New York late Wednesday. Chipmakers rally Semiconductor-related issues contributed the most to the Nikkei's gain, with sentiment boosted by strong gains for their U.S. peers after J.P. Morgan upgraded the sector on prospects for an industry turnaround. Shares of Advantest (6857), the biggest maker of equipment used to test computer memory chips, shot up 7.1 percent to 7,410 yen and those of Hitachi (HIT) (6501) jumped 2.5 percent to 874 yen. Fujitsu (FJTSY) (6702) climbed 2.9 percent to 917 yen. Investors paid little attention to government data showing an ongoing slump in the global technology industry slashing Japan's trade surplus to the smallest amount in 18 years in 2001. See full story. Automakers also gained, helped by continued weakness in the yen, which boosts their overseas revenues when repatriated into the local currency. Honda Motor (HMC) (7267) rose 2.7 percent to 5,360 yen and Toyota (TM) (7203) was up 3.5 percent to 3,540 yen. Chip stocks lift Seoul, Taiwan indexes South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.7 percent to 755.50 points by late morning. While broad-based shares found support, gains were led by semiconductor-related issues following a 4.3 percent rally for the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Shares of Samsung Electronics gained 2.1 percent to 314,500. Hynix Semiconductor (HXSDY), which is currently in alliance talks with Micron Technology (MU), rose 1.9 percent to 2,710 won. SK Telecom (SKM) gained 1.8 percent to 257,500 won. The country's top wireless carrier has won a license from the Cambodian government to provide nationwide wireless services based on code division multiple access (CDMA) technology, said a Dow Jones report. Shares of Pohang Iron and Steel (PKX) climbed 2.3 percent to 134,000 won ahead of its earnings announcement later in the day. Taiwan stocks rose as investors bought up leading chip issues on hopes for a quicker-than-expected recovery in the sector. The Weighted Index gained 1.2 percent to 5,838.19 points by mid morning. Index heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) rose 1.1 percent to NT$89.50. Shares have risen nearly 6 percent this month. TSMC is set to announce its business results Friday. Winbond Electronics (WBEMF) rose 1.2 percent to NT$25.10. Quanta Computer rallied 3.7 percent to NT$142 following an Economic Daily News report that the company will jointly develop, produce and market handsets with Taiwan Cellular, the island's largest private wireless operator. Taiwan Cellular's shares (TWCRF) stood steady at NT$46.20. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened up 41.99 points, or 0.4 percent, at 10,804.13. Australia Australia's All Ordinaries Index added 0.3 percent to 3,374 points in early afternoon trade. Normandy Mining (NMDMF) sank 2 percent to A$1.96, after formally recommending to shareholders to accept a takeover offer by Newmont Mining (NEM). Woodside Petroleum (WPLDF) was down half a percent at A$13.70. Australian oil and gas producer is pursuing a $2 billion bid for the oil and gas assets of German Veba Oel AG, the Australian Financial Review reported. Veba Oel is owned by BP Plc (BP), which is holding talks with several parties about a sale of the business, said the report. Manila's PSE Composite gained 1.6 percent to 1,337.82, building on the previous day's 5-month closing high. In New Zealand, the benchmark New Zealand's NZ Top 40 was trading up 0.9 percent at 2,121.12 in early afternoon trade. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.4 percent to 1,672.46 points. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------