Tokyo leads Asian markets higher

HONG KONG, China -- Japan led Asian markets higher by midday Wednesday on strong economic data indicating that Asia is on its way to an economic rebound.

Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore were all stronger. But Australia and New Zealand slipped.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 253.18 points or 2.48 percent to 10,455.81, while the broader capital-weighted Topix index rose 13.61 points or 1.38 percent to 997.43.

Japan awaited the key anti-deflation plackage due to be unveiled by the Koizumi administration later in the day.

Sentiment firmed about the yen's resilience, quelling fears that overseas investors would dump their Japanese shares if the package is as disappointing as expected.

The market was also lifted by advances among big bank shares.

Banks wiped out most of Tuesday's losses, with Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest bank by assets, leading its peers higher after soaring 7.05 percent to 243,000 yen.

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group, Japan's third biggest banking group, gained 3.21 percent to 803,000 yen. No. 2 Sumitomo Mitsui was up 2.75 percent at 485 yen.

In the technology sector, electronics manufacturer Pioneer Corp soared 6.1 percent to 2,610 yen, while Sony Corp rose 1.29 percent to 6,280 yen.

Pioneer shares jumped after the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily reported the firm is expected to post a group net profit of 16 billion yen ($118.8 million) for the year to March 2003, up 68 percent from its forecast for the current year.

In the auto sector, Japan's leading carmaker Toyota Motor is unchanged at 3,400 yen, but rival Honda Motor rose 3.98 percent to 5,230 yen.

Airlines, construction up

South Korean stocks were higher early as transport and construction shares jumped on growing expectations of rising orders along with an economic rebound.

The Kospi was up 1.71 percent at 814.87, while the over-the-counter Kosdaq was up 0.03 percent at 77.02.

South Korea's industrial output jumped 10.2 percent in January year-on-year, the Finance Ministry said, fuelling hopes the country's economy is turning around.

Top builder, Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co jumped 6.7 percent to 3,730 won, while Daewoo Engineering and Construction surged 4.7 percent to 4,250.

Transportation shares also got a boost following the end of a two-day strike by railway unions. Hyundai Motor, Korea's largest carmaker, advanced 3.2 percent to 35,350 won after its union said there would be no partial strikes on Wednesday.

Airlines also advanced on rising demand ahead of the month-long World Cup soccer finals in Korea and Japan that will kick off on May 31.

Korean Air, Seoul's flagship carrier, rose 2.9 percent to 16,050 won, while Asian Airlines firmed 2.7 percent to 4,190 won.

Power monopoly Korea Electric Power Corp continued its three-day winning streak, adding 0.7 percent to 22,500, hardly affected by a three-day strike by its unionized workers.

Chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor shot up five percent to 1,555 won after the troubled firm said it closed two of its seven non-memory lines late last year and had no plans to reopen them.

Disappointing results

Australian stocks remained weak in early afternoon trade on a swag of disappointing profit results, though shares in the country's main airline bucked the trend.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 18.7 points or 0.5 percent to 3,416.1.

Qantas soared 8 percent to A$4.48 on news that the Tesna syndicate had withdrawn from its proposal to buy and relaunch rival carrier Ansett.

But Australian smart card system developer ERG plunged 21 percent to 32 cents after the company said it expected a first half loss of between A$175 million and A$195 million, after booking asset write downs of A$140 million to A$160 million.

Financial services group AMP also fell 1.8 percent to A$18.80 after it posted a 40 percent drop in 2001 net profit due to plunging markets.

Shares in Bank of Western Australia also dropped three cents to A$4.47. Shareholders were unimpressed with its net profit of A$140.4 million ($71.6 million) for the 10-month period to December 31, 2001.

Technical rebound

Taiwan shares were higher as electronic shares led a technical rebound. But caution remained about the pace of economic recovery.

The benchmark Taiex was up 125.81 points or 2.29 percent at 5,625.60.

United Microelectronics Corp, the world's second largest microchip contract maker, rose 5.02 percent to T$43.90.

Mobile phone maker Benq surged 6.2 percent to T$68.50 on expected sound sales outlook this year, analysts said.

Shares were also higher in Singapore, boosted by banks on hopes they would benefit from a recovery in the economy.

The bellwether Straits Times Index was up 1.54 percent or 25.93 points at 1,708.33 in morning trade.

DBS Group rose 30 cents to S$13.70, OCBC Bank added 40 cents to S$12.80, and United Overseas Bank gained 30 cents to S$13.90.

Hong Kong shares were also up in morning trade, led by Citic Ka Wah Bank, which rose on hopes it would post sharply higher earnings.

The Hang Seng Index was up 1.584 percent at 10,714 near midday.

Citic Ka Wah Bank, Hong Kong's sixth largest bank, rose 3.16 percent at HK$2.45 ahead of its results on hopes it would post sharply higher earnings.