Asian stocks close higher on tech optimism


Good economic figures for Korea and optimism about tech stocks saw the market gain 3.3 percent Friday

SYDNEY, Australia -- Asian stock markets closed mainly higher Friday, boosted by tech optimism and some good economic figures for Korea. Tokyo was closed for a national holiday.

In the U.S., Wall Street was closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, leaving Asian markets to find their own way.

Korea was the region's strongest performer, with the Kospi up 20.62 points or 3.3 percent to 645.18, buoyed by Thursday's 1.8 percent growth figure for the third quarter.

Hynix Semiconductor rose sharply during the day on rumors it was merging with rival memory chipmaker Micron Technology.

But after those reports were denied by the company, Hynix closed down 25 won at 1910 won. Volume of 372 million shares was almost half of Seoul's total turnover for the day.

Taiwan, Australia, HK all stronger

Taiwan's Taiex also did well, adding 69.06 points or 1.55 percent to 4519.08.


Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished the day about 0.6 percent higher

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 8.7 points or 0.26 percent to 3332.9, buoyed by gains among its retailers, selected resources stocks and market heavyweights Telstra and News Corp.

But New Zealand was a rare market to falter, its NZSE Top 40 slipping 17.67 points or 0.87 percent to 2003.36.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 69.06 points or 0.6 percent at 11,322.36, with China Unicom up 2.2 percent to HK$9.15 on news of its CDMA network rollout in January.

In Singapore, the Straits Times index was 9.85 points or about 0.7 percent higher at 1461.04 shortly before the close.

In India, Mumbai's BSE Sensex was marginally higher, up 5.5 points to 3263 in afternoon trading.

Woodside, WMC, BHP make gains

Among Australian resources stocks, one big mover was oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum, which rose 3 percent to close 40 cents higher at A$13.35.

Market heavyweight BHP Billiton rose 1.35 percent to A$9.70, while competitor Rio Tinto was down 25 cents or 0.7 percent to A$34.70.

Diversified miner WMC put on 2.23 percent or 21 cents to A$9.62. Earlier this week it said it had rejected a potential $6 billion takeover bid from aluminium giant and joint venture partners Alcoa, planning instead to split its assets into two companies.

BHP and Rio are potential bidders for WMC's copper assets.

Leading Australian banks were lower, as was top airline Qantas, which fell 10 cents or 2.4 percent to A$4.03 on worries over oil price rises.

Leading supermarket group Woolworths rose 25 cents or 2.3percent to A$11.17 after upgrading its earnings forecast for the year to September 30, 2002.

Telco leader Telstra rose to 2.1 percent to A$5.32. It was the most heavily traded stock with about 43 million shares changing hands.

Media group News Corp added 17 cents or 1.17 percent to A$15.03, while newspaper publisher John Fairfax put on almost seven percent for the week, closing up 6 cents to A$3.74 Friday.

Hynix jumps on Micron rumors

Among Korean stocks, Hynix Semiconductor jumped more than 6 percent initially on reports it was merging with U.S. rival Micron Technology, but then fell back into the red when those reports were denied.

Hynix's main domestic rival, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics added 6000 won or 2.8 percent to 222,000 won.

Telco leader SK Telecom jumped more than 6 percent, putting on 17,000 won to 287,500 won, while rival Korea Telecom added 2300 won or 4.4 percent to 54,700 won.

LG Electronics was another strong gainer, adding 6.18 percent or 1150 won to 19,750 won.

Among Hong Kong bluechips, most gains were modest, of less than 1 percent. HSBC was flat at HK$94.25, while Cheung Kong Holdings was up 1.3 percent to HK$77.75

In Taiwan, industrial stocks such as Asia Cement and Formosa Plastic were higher, as were most tech stocks, including the two dominant contract chipmakers UMC and TSMC.

UMC was up 2.2 percent to $37.80, while its rival TSMC gained 0.7 percent to T$73.50. Computer company Asustek put on 6.6 percent to T$136.0

In Singapore, banks were slightly higher, as was Singapore Telecommunications. But Singapore Airlines dipped slightly, down 5 cents to S$9.80.

Reuters contributed to this report.