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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (11059)	8/18/2003 11:46:47 PM
From: StanX Long	Respond to of 95765

Don, Asia's market is following today's up trend, Stan. Asia Mkts: Tech Shares Lead Asia Higher 20 minutes ago news.yahoo.com By Bill Tarrant SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Technology shares led Asian stocks higher on Tuesday after chip makers surged on Wall Street and the dollar firmed on a growing perception the U.S. economy was rebounding more strongly than its major trading partners. Oil prices eased below $31 a barrel after North American refineries cranked up again after last week's blackout, which appeared to have left the U.S. economy largely unscathed. Gold clawed back some ground in Asian trading after tumbling below $360 an ounce in New York, but the resurgent dollar would cap any strong advance, traders said. The euro inched closer to a four-month low against the dollar as dealers focused on a widening gap in the health of the U.S. and European economies. Tokyo's key Nikkei average cleared the 10,200 mark for the first time in 13 months by the midday break as investors bought lagging tech issues, including Toshiba Corp. Chip makers posted handsome gains on revived interest in the sector after shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc shot up on bullish comments on the U.S. microchip maker from an influential technology strategist. The Nikkei was up 1.85 percent at 10,218.62. The broader TOPIX index put on 1.72 percent to 992.80 Toshiba, Japan's biggest chip maker, was up 6.46 percent and rival Hitachi Ltd 6.9 percent. "Toshiba and Hitachi were among those which had reported weak earnings and thus were among the worst hit. So they look particularly attractive for bargain hunters," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi Securities. Deutsche Securities' chief strategist Ryoji Musha said on Tuesday he had raised his year-end target to 10,500 from 9,800 as investors factor in signs of economic recovery in the United States and Japan. The Nikkei is more than 30 percent above a two-decade trough hit in late April. But it remains expensive relative to other markets, trading at a collective price to forecast earnings multiple of 23.8, well above Taiwan's 15.2 and the Nasdaq Composite's 18.9. South Korean shares were up 1.38 percent near an 11-month high with the world's biggest memory chip maker Samsung Electronics jumping 3.1 percent. Singapore had gained 0.49 percent with Creative Technology up 3.72 percent after Monday's 8.7 percent jump. Taiwan had risen 0.77 percent The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.97 percent at a 14-month high, as rosy news from big retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. bolstered investors' hopes that the economy and corporate profits are improving. AMD surged 14.2 percent after Barron's said its new Opteron chip was getting rave reviews. Financial markets cheered a report from the National Association of Home Builders showing U.S. home builders in August were at their most optimistic since January 2000, indicating the housing market was proving resilient to higher borrowing costs. That came after Japanese gross domestic product data released last week showed the world's second-biggest economy grew by 0.6 percent in the April-June quarter, exceeding most forecasts. With strong indicators coming out from the world's two biggest economies and Europe lagging behind, the euro was under mounting pressure. At 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, the euro was trading at $1.1129/33 compared with the late New York level of $1.1143/49. The dollar was fetching 119.36/41 yen, around its New York level. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note, which hit a one-year high above 4.60 percent last week, eased further in Asian trading to 4.47 percent from 4.51 percent in New York. Crude oil for September delivery had eased four cents to $30.85 a barrel by 0245 GMT from its late New York level. Spot gold was at $359.40 an ounce.