Japan shakes off U.S. stock drop

By staff and wire reports

HONG KONG, China -- Japanese stocks opened higher on Thursday, shaking off a report showing that industrial production dropped again for October.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index was was up 0.29 percent at 10,655.98 a little before 10 a.m. local time.

The Tokyo market had been expected to dip at the open, also facing pressure from a stock drop on Wall Street overnight and the prospect of a collapse at energy giant Enron Corp.

If the energy trading company goes under, as it threatens to do after Dynegy pulled out of a $9 billion takeover deal, it would be one of the biggest corporate failures in U.S. history.

That pushed the Dow Jones industrial average down 1.6 percent in Wednesday trade, with the Nasdaq dropping 2.5 percent.

Japan's broader market got off to a solid start Thursday after a 3.0 percent fall in the Nikkei the day before. The broader capital-weighted Topix index was off 0.2 percent at 1,051.18 but was rallying.

Sony, Toshiba dipping

Sony Corp., which often leads the way for techs, dipped 1.7 percent to 5,730 yen in morning trade. Investors are fretting over U.S. prospects, which account for the bulk of the electronics maker's sales.

Japan's largest chipmaker, Toshiba Corp., fell 2.5 percent to 513 yen. Its U.S. subsidiary said Wednesday it will stop selling desktop computers.

Toyota Motor Co., the largest carmaker, was off 0.3 percent at 3,160 yen. It is reportedly planning an assembly plant in the Czech Republic with Citroen.

Bank stocks continued to fall, with the largest, Mizuho Holdings, down again. It was off 0.96 percent at 309,000 yen.

Australia down on merger movement

Australia's market was down 0.8 percent at 3,325.4 in late morning trade. Takeover stories were the main movers.

AngloGold was moving mining stocks after it said it will increase its bid for Normandy Mining by 20 cents, to A$1.65. It is trying to outbid Newmont Mining.

The two largest listings in Australia were putting pressure on the index. Media group News Corp. was down 22 cents at A$14.50, and leading telecom Telstra was off six cents at A$5.27.

In New Zealand, stocks continued to rise against the Asia Pacific trend. The NSZE-40 Capital index was up 0.23 percent at 2,064.89.

South Korean stocks were off 1.46 percent with the Kospi at 623.86.