ASIAN ADRS
Taiwan uncertainty hits ADRs
By Jenny Spitz, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:57 PM ET March 22, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Taiwanese firms tumbled in U.S. trading Monday as doubts over the outcome of the country's presidential election kept investors away from its ADRs.
Fears of political instability there also depressed other Asian stocks. The Bank of New York Asian ADR Index fell 2.36 points to close at 103.31.
"Taiwan is a big, big mess," said Jefferies Asia-Pacific trader Wayne Yu.
But Yu also linked the negative trading sentiment to a lack of leadership in the market, which may change as earnings season kicks off next week and will also depend on how quickly questions over the vote count in Taiwan are resolved. See story on Taiwan election.
All seven of the Taiwanese ADRs fell: Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM: news, chart, profile) dropped 88 cents, or 9 percent, to $9.30; United Microelectronics (UMC: news, chart, profile) lost 50 cents, or 9 percent, to $4.89; Chunghwa Telecom (CHT: news, chart, profile) declined $1.20, or 7 percent, to $16.30; Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASX: news, chart, profile) was down 58 cents, or 10 percent, to $5.12; AU Optronics (AUO: news, chart, profile) slid $1.60, or 9 percent, to $17.06; Silicon Precision (SPIL: news, chart, profile) dipped 51 cents, or 10 percent, to $4.80; and Macronix International (MXICY: news, chart, profile) tumbled 41 cents, or 12 percent, to $3.16.
Chinese airline and oil stocks also lost out after the South China Morning Post reported that China has ordered its army to be on alert in case the instability in Taiwan escalates.
China Southern Airlines (ZNH: news, chart, profile) was down $1.99, or 8 percent, to $23.36; China Eastern Airlines (CEA: news, chart, profile) lost $1.31, or 7 percent, to $17.83; Petrochina (PTR: news, chart, profile) declined $1.46, or 3 percent, to $50.30; and Sinopec (SNP: news, chart, profile) dipped $1.92, or 5 percent, to $37.10.
Japanese auto shares got a double whammy. They were hurt by the global market decline and by Merrill Lynch's Japan chief equity strategist, who lowered his recommendation for the auto industry to "neutral" from "overweight" amid diminished expectations for a weaker yen.
Toyota Motor (TM: news, chart, profile) lost $1.69 to $68.69, Honda Motor (HMC: news, chart, profile) was down 24 cents at $22.07, and Nissan Motors (NSANY: news, chart, profile) fell 58 cents to $21.20.
In the Japanese tech sector: Hitachi (HIT: news, chart, profile) stayed on the plus side, rising 44 cents to $70.45, but most issues were weaker. Sony (SNE: news, chart, profile) dipped $1, or 3 percent, to $38.45; Canon (CAJ: news, chart, profile) was down $1.31, or 3 percent, to $47.20; and NEC (NIPNY: news, chart, profile) dropped 20 cents, or 3 percent, to $7.52.
Elsewhere, Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor (CHRT: news, chart, profile) fell 28 cents, or 3 percent, to $8.50 and Australia's News Corp. (NWS: news, chart, profile) closed down 47 cents to $34.46.
Jenny Spitz is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in San Francisco. |
