Nikkei weaker, but rest of Asia higher


Japanese automakers such as Honda continued to hang onto gains in Tokyo Tuesday, helped by the weaker yen

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo tech stocks were weaker by midday Tuesday, but export-oriented automakers and banks made gains on the weaker yen. Other Asian markets were up.

While the tech-heavy Nikkei 225 average was down 0.8 percent or 71 points at 10,646, the strong performance of U.S. markets saw the broader capital-weighted TOPIX index just stay in the black, up 0.29 points to 1,065.28.

Also bearing on the market was a report in the Nihon Keizai business daily that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had decided to draw up a second fiscal 2001 extra budget, likely to total more than two trillion yen ($16.24 billion).

There was considerable volatility in the morning session, with weakness among many tech stocks sending the benchmark Nikkei 225 average up and down.

Among automakers, Toyota was again up sharply, putting on 130 yen or 4.2 percent to 3360 yen as the yen weakened to a three-month low. No. 2 carmaker Nissan added 26 yen or 4.4 percent to 619 yen, while third-ranked Honda was up 1.7 percent or 80 yen to 4880 yen.

Sony, chipmakers weaker


Mobile phone leader NTT DoCoMo eased, as did KDDI

Consumer electronics leader Sony was down 200 yen or 3.4 percent to 5630 yen, while computer and chipmakers Toshiba, Fujitsu and Hitachi were also weaker. Toshiba had the heaviest fall, down 4.86 percent to 529 yen.

Among techs, Canon was a rare gainer, putting on 50 yen or 1.2 percent to 4070 yen.

Leading mobile telco NTT DoCoMo eased 3.4 percent to 1.69 million yen, while smaller rival KDDI was down 5 percent to 320,000 yen. Japan Telecom moved against the trend, putting on 6000 yen or 1.5 percent to 402,000 yen.

Among the big banks, only MTFG made any ground, up 0.3 percent to 869,000 yen.

Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest bank by assets, slipped 1.7 percent to 332,000. Rivals UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui were also weaker, as was second-tier Asahi Bank.

Urban renewal likely to be a priority

Some issues seen to benefit from urban development gained ground in early trade, including Mitsui Fudosan and Sumitomo Realty & Development. Urban renewal is expected to be a priority area in any second extra budget.

Other markets in the region were mainly higher, with Australia and New Zealand up strongly and Korea's Kospi putting on 3.59 points or 0.6 percent to 630.02.

Taiwan and Singapore also rose by about 1 percent, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 40.47 points to 11,319.79 just before midday.

The smaller exchanges in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta were all slightly stronger.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 added 24.4 points or 0.8 percent to 3356.3, with resources giant Rio Tinto one of the best blue chip performers, up 2.6 percent to A$35.92.

Market heavyweight News Corp was up 2 percent to A$15.14. Most of the big banks also strengthened.

New Zealand, Korea higher

In New Zealand, the Top 40 index added 23.59 points or 1.1 percent to 2042.49.

In Seoul, big gainers included Hyundai Motor (up 2.9 percent to 26,550 won) and market heavyweight Samsung Electronics, up 0.7 percent or 2000 won to 220,500 won.

But Hynix Semiconductor fell 2.6 percent to 1880 won after being up in morning trade.

In Hong Kong, banking giant HSBC was up 0.8 percent to HK$93.25, while conglomerate Citic Pacific put on 80 cents or 4.4 percent to HK$18.75.

The gains in Asia followed a strong close Monday in the U.S., with the Dow Jones industrial average up 109.47 points or 1.1 percent to 9976.46 and the Nasdaq composite up 35.84 points or 1.89 percent to 1934.42.