Hong Kong up 4% as Asia stocks rise


Exporters like Sony and Toyota saw their stocks rise, boosting the Nikkei almost 3%, as the yen weakened to 122 to the dollar

By staff and wire reports

HONG KONG, China -- Asian markets ended with confident gains Tuesday, as almost all markets moved forward.

Stocks like Sony drove Japan up almost 3 percent. The benchmark Nikkei had its biggest one-day jump since Oct. 11, closing up 2.8 percent at 10,861.56.

The broader Topix index also rose, but more modestly, finishing up 2.1 percent at 1,095.74.

That and overnight American stock gains set the stage for a good day in Singapore and in Hong Kong, which had a particularly strong showing of 4.3 percent.

South Korea squeeked into the black. Australia put on more than a percentage point and New Zealand also rose.

The only signs of weakness came in Taiwan, where stocks lost more than half a percent, and in Manila.

Philippines set new 10-year low

Philippines stocks, depressed by the Abu Sayyaf's deadly battle with security forces in southern Jolo island, fell to a fresh 10-year low.

Manila's stocks have fallen since the start of the U.S. response to the Sept. 11 attacks. Investors are selling on the increasingly violent Abu Sayyaf, who claim to want a Muslim nation in the southern Philippines.

Other Asian markets in Muslim nations have stayed fairly steady despite the American retaliation. On Tuesday, the Kuala Lumpur exchange in Malaysia was up 0.78 percent in afternoon trade.

Indonesian stocks were up 0.6 percent. There have been increasingly dramatic anti-American demonstrations over the last two weeks. But investors have been cheered by a lack of violence in the world's largest Muslim nation.

Techs up in Tokyo

Tokyo's performance was driven by a surge in technology stocks. Sony, one of the world's largest consumer-electronics companies, often maps the course.

It rose 3.0 percent to 5,150 yen. It gets about 30 percent of its sales in America, and is due to report third-quarter sales on Thursday.

Chip-maker Fujitsu, which is one of the first tech companies to report when it posts numbers on Wednesday, rose 3.9 percent to 1,061 yen.

No. 1 Japan car company Toyota Motor Corp. put on 1.98 percent to 3,090 yen, as the Japanese currency lost ground. That helps boost exporters' sales figures.

Hong Kong's market was vibrant Tuesday, benefiting from its close ties to U.S. markets. It is also enjoying the glow of its close links to mainland China, expected to post the strongest growth in the world this year.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index rose 4.3 percent to 10,219.84.

China Mobile, the market's second-largest stock, rose 8.6 percent to HK$24.00. It's the largest cell phone company in the mainland.

China stocks up more than 9.5%

China, fresh from hosting last week's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, kept that momentum going with the strongest showing in the region. Both the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges gained almost 10 percent.

China's investors tend to think short-term and play stocks speculatively. Because they had bought into companies expected to benefit from APEC -- such as hotel and travel agency stocks -- some market watchers worried the gains would evaporate. The conference ended on Sunday.

Still, Shanghai's B shares, open to overseas investors, rose 9.91 percent. The Shenzhen B shares rose 9.79 percent.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P ASX/500 index climbed 1.05 percent to close at 3,213.3.

News Corp., the biggest listing in Sydney, was the main reason. It jumped 4.14 percent to A$14.08.

It was fired by gains in the United States, where the company's stock is also listed. The Dow Jones industrial average put on 1.9 percent to end Monday at 9,377.03.

Nasdaq finished up 2.2 percent at 1,708.08.

Back Down Under, Australia's biggest telecom, Telstra, lost 3 percent to A$4.87. Its weighting will soon change under the much-followed Morgan Stanley Capital index.

In New Zealand, the benchmark NZSE-40 Capital index closed up 0.28 percent at 1,895.88.

South Korea's Kospi closed up 0.3 percent at 530.50. Samsung Electronics, Seoul's largest stock, rose 5.45 percent to 446.91.

It was jollied by Samsung's earnings on Monday, a 420 billion won net profit for the third quarter that beat expectations.

Hynix Semiconductor fell 5 percent to 940 won after the troubled chipmaker posted its worst quarterly showing in the third quarter, when it lost 1.62 trillion won.

In Taiwan, the benchmark Taiex rose at the open. But it gave it back all day to finish down 0.67 percent at 3,874.42.

Unemployment reached record levels in September, at 5.26 percent, the government in Taipei said.