Australia, NZ down, Taiwan soars


Stocks in Taiwan continued to gain in early trade Monday

SYDNEY, Australia -- Stock markets in Australia and New Zealand were weaker by midday Monday in light trade ahead of the New Year's Day holiday. But Taiwan soared, putting on more than 2 percent.

Elsewhere in the region, markets in Tokyo and Seoul were closed, while Hong Kong and Singapore are trading for half a day only.

Led by its IT and electronic stocks, the market in Taiwan continued its run of good gains in recent weeks, with the Taiex up 111 points or 2 percent to 5509.

Leading notebook maker Quanta Computer was again one of the best performers, up T$2.5 to T$113. Chip foundries TSMC and UMC also rose.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 lost 6.7 points or 0.2 percent to 3420.4. But it remains one of the best performing markets in the world in 2001 with a gain of about 7 percent gain from its 2000 closing level.

News Corp higher

Big banks and most resources stocks were weaker, but market heavyweight News Corp was slightly higher, up 6.5 cents to A$15.74 for a gain of 0.41 percent.

Rio Tinto was another to move against the downward trend, adding 13 cents or 0.36 percent to A$37.30. Two of the smaller banks, St George and Bankwest, were also higher.

Leading telco Telstra and its rival SingTel-Optus were steady, but Hutchison Telecom Australia continued to gain on expectations it will be involved in a sector reshuffle in the near future.

In New Zealand, the NZSE Top 40 was down 7.61 points or 0.37 percent to 2053.29.

On Wall Street Friday, a rise in U.S. consumer confidence for the first time in six months fed expectations for an economic turnaround in 2002, nudging stocks higher.

The Nasdaq finished up 10.84 points or 0.6 percent to 1987.26, while the blue-chip Dow Jones ended virtually steady at 10,136.99 in light trade, a gain of 5.68 points.