Tokyo heads higher on tech strength


Mobile phone leader NTT DoCoMo saw its stock falter Tuesday after it recalled some of its new 3G phones

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks were higher by midday Tuesday, with technology leaders such as Toshiba, Fujitsu and Sony all making gains.

Chip and computer maker Fujitsu jumped 2.2 percent, NEC rose 2.8 percent, Toshiba and Sony were both up 1.3 percent and Hitachi added 1.1 percent.

But some tech stocks fell on profit-taking, after posting strong gains in the past three sessions. Consumer electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial slipped 1.7 percent to 1627 yen.

Shares of NTT DoCoMo, Japan's dominant wireless carrier, fell 1.7 percent to 1.74 million yen after the company said late on Monday that 1500 of its third-generation mobile phones would be recalled because of a software glitch.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 share average ended the morning session up 62.62 points or 0.57 percent at 11,126.92. At one point it touched 11,131.26, the highest intraday level since August 29.

The broader capital-weighted TOPIX index was just into the black, up 0.3 points to 1089.07, after weakness among the big banks.

Automakers were mixed, with market leader Toyota down 20 yen or 0.6 percent to 3240 yen, and second-ranked Nissan was down 0.16 percent to 619 yen. Honda was unchanged at 4890 yen, as was Isuzu Motors at 103 yen.

Other markets mixed

Other markets in the region were mixed, with Hong Kong and Taiwan sliding back.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up again, putting on 15.4 points or half a percent to 3363.9 on strength among resources and banking stocks, while in New Zealand the NZSE Top 40 surged 1.55 percent or 30 points to 2039.

That came after a business confidence survey showed the mood is improving, and the New Zealand government announced a boost to its rescue package for Air NZ.

In Seoul, the Kospi gave back some of Monday's strong gains, with the index down 2.11 points or 0.3 percent to 672.45. It had surged more than 4.5 percent to a 14-month high on Monday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was 38 points lower at 11,353 in late morning trade, while in Taiwan the Taiex was down 60 points or 1.3 percent to 4549.18.

Singapore was up almost 1 percent to 1488 heading towards the morning close.

Japanese banks mostly down

In Tokyo, shares of major banks were mostly easier after they posted strong gains on Monday. Most of the big banks had announced half-year earnings results on Monday, and these came mostly in line with expectations.

SMBC dropped 1.89 percent to 725 yen, Mizuho Holdings was down 0.8 percent to 355,000 yen and UFJ slipped 2.5 percent to 472,000 yen. The fourth of the big banks, MTFG, was virtually flat, down 2000 yen or 0.2 percent to 899,000 yen.

Top banks are now expecting to take full-year loan-loss charges of 6.5 trillion yen ($52 billion), slightly above analysts' estimates of around 6.0 trillion yen and more than triple the 1.9 trillion yen the banks had forecast in May.

"We had rises in large-cap electronics stocks on one hand and falls in bank shares on the other. That kept the Nikkei from moving either up or down," Masaharu Sakudo, managing director at Tachibana Securities, told Reuters news agency.

Reuters contributed to this report.