Nikkei rises, but banks still weak


Tech stocks were higher in Tokyo Wednesday after gains on Wall Street

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks opened higher Wednesday, with technology stocks making a strong showing to offset the continuing slide among big banks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average was up 129.23 points or 1.24 percent to 10,581.88 in early trade, building on Wall Street's stronger performance Tuesday.

The broader capital-weighted TOPIX index was up 7.82 points or 0.76 percent to 1036.32.

Virtually all tech stocks were higher, with the exception of consumer electronics leader Sony Corp.

Sony was down 0.34 percent or 20 yen at 5830 yen after the Dutch government said it had blocked the sale of more than 1.3 million PlayStation 1 consoles and accessories in November because the cables contained too much cadmium. Sony's new PlayStation 2 consoles are not involved.

Fujitsu, Canon, NEC, Toshiba and Hitachi all made good gains, as did telcos NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Japan Telecom.

Banks continue to fall

Most Japanese big banks, battered earlier this week over fears about their exposure to U.S. energy trader Enron, continued to lose ground.

Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest bank by assets, was the only one to recover a little, picking up 7000 yen or 2.6 percent to 276,000 yen.

It closed Tuesday at a record low of 269,000 yen, with its shares now down about 70 percent from their intraday high of 964,000 yen marked in October 2000.

Rival UFJ weakened further, losing 9000 yen or 2.6 percent to 3336,000 yen -- also a record low.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Japan's second-largest bank, gave up 1.1 percent to 585 yen, close to its record low of 582 yen.

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group lost 1.2 percent to 805,000 yen. On Monday, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi said its loan exposure to Enron and its related businesses was $247 million.

Other markets in the region also were higher, with Korea leading the way on tech-related optimism.

Kospi up almost 3 percent

In Seoul, the Kospi was up 18.82 points or 2.9 percent to 668.72.

Chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor continued to soar as it prepared for talks Wednesday with U.S. rival Micron Technology about a possible strategic alliance. It added another 40 won or 1.5 percent to 2700, building on its sharp gains Monday and Tuesday.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 21.3 points or 0.64 percent to 3345.7 after the central Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates Wednesday morning to 4.25 percent. The 0.25 percentage point cut was widely expected.

Banks, telcos and resources leader BHP Billiton were higher

New Zealand's Top 40 was up 18.59 points or 0.92 percent to 2046.65.