Nikkei recovers to close higher


Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 4.7 percent Thursday to 10,295, then put on another 61 points Friday

TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese stocks recovered to close 0.6 percent higher Friday after spending much of the day in the red. Korea followed suit, closing up half a percent after an early dip.

The initial falls in Asia came after a sharp slide on Wall Street Thursday.

Markets in Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong all ended lower, but New Zealand finished higher.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average ended the day up 61.36 points or 0.6 percent at 10,356.78, after early profit-taking by investors seeking to make the most of its 4.7 percent gain the previous day.

The broader capital-weighted TOPIX index was essentially flat, closing 0.3 points or 0.03 percent higher at 989.19.

Banks recover


Japanese banks, including UFJ and Mizuho Holdings, closed higher

Among the big banks, Mizuho Holdings fell to 218,000 yen before a strong recovery took it to a close of 230,000 yen for a gain of 7000 yen or 3.1 percent. UFJ Holdings put on 4000 yen or 1.4 percent to 284,000 yen.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp was up 1.9 percent to 475 yen, but MTFG was the odd one out, closing 4000 yen or half a percent lower at 780,000. At one point it dipped as low as 769,000 yen.

Among techs, Sony was just into the black at 6270 yen, and mobile phone leader NTT DoCoMo fell 2.1 percent to 1.39 million yen.

Elsewhere in the region, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was down 12.2 points or about a third of a percent to 3422.1, and New Zealand's NZSE Top 40 closed 6.73 points or 0.33 percent higher at 2075.58.

News Corp. drops

Australian resources leaders BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto eased, as did market heavyweight News Corp, which dropped 71 cents or 5.66 percent to A$11.86 after it agreed to issue $680 million in shares to U.S. company WorldCom.

With the exception of National Australia Bank, the leading banks were higher.

In Seoul, Korea's Kospi was up 4.38 points or about 0.56 percent to 792.0, after falling as low as 773.4 during the day.

Hynix Semiconductor jumped 2.56 percent, SK Telecom rose 2.3 percent and KT put on 4.3 percent to 52,900 won, but Samsung Electronics lost 1.33 percent to 333,500 won.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was down about 133 points or 1.24 percent near the close.

Bluechips were down across the board, with banking leader HSBC off 1.1 percent, China Mobile down 1.5 percent and Cheung Kong Holdings losing 2.4 percent.

Taiwan's Taiex eased 46.27 points or 0.82 percent to 5609.83, while in Singapore, the Straits Times index was down more than 2 percent or 35 points to 1692 near the close.

Singapore Airlines and SingTel gave ground, while banking leader DBS slipped more than 4 percent to S$13.70 in late trade.

Nasdaq slumps

On Thursday in Tokyo, the Nikkei had posted its biggest percentage rise since March 2001.

But on Friday, after the U.S. Nasdaq lost 3.3 percent and chipmaker Intel fell 6 percent, initially there was a sharp selloff in Tokyo, led by tech-related issues such as computer and chipmakers NEC, Fujitsu and Hitachi.

NEC closed 2.68 percent lower at 871 yen, Hitachi lost 1.95 percent to 804 yen after dropping more than 3 percent at one stage, and Fujitsu recovered from a low of 799 yen to close at 816 yen, a drop of 4 yen or half a percent.

Tokyo Electron, a maker of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment, dropped to 8330 yen before recovering strongly to finish at 8710 yen, a gain of 1.28 percent.

Reuters news agency reported investors were reluctant to push prices down aggressively ahead of a planned announcement of the government's anti-deflation package and Bank of Japan's (BOJ) Policy Board meeting next week, traders said.

Snow Brand Milk Products fell 13.19 percent to 125 yen after its scandal tainted meat-packing subsidiary, Snow Brand Food, said it would liquidate its operations in April.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended trading in Snow Brand Food and said the shares will be delisted on May 23.