Asian markets soar, Nikkei up 5%

HONG KONG, China -- Asian markets surged by midday Monday, boosted by an impressive Wall Street performance which saw the Dow Jones index close at a six-month high last Friday.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average was up 5.12 percent or 553.69 points at 11,365.69, while the broader Topix index put on 4.02 percent or 41.43 points to 1,071.60 by the midday break.

Hopes for an economic upturn in the United States, the largest export destination for Asian products, gave markets a much-needed boost, as did positive U.S. manufacturing and consumer spending data.

Asian electronics and semiconductor shares also tracked an 11-percent jump in the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor sub-index

Tokyo was at a six-month high as investors covered short-term positions in techs, banks, brokers and a wide range of shares.

In other markets, Australia, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore were all higher as hopes for an imminent U.S. economic recovery boosted market sentiment.

U.S. stocks had rallied on Friday on signs the economic recovery is gaining steam faster than expected.

The Dow surged 262.73 points, or 2.6 percent to 10,368.86, while the tech-laden Nasdaq gained 71.26 points, or 4.12 percent to 1,802.75.

A key report showed U.S. factories lifted production in February for the first time since July 2000 to meet a wave of new orders as demand for manufactured goods soared.

Other data for January, which indicated a surge in U.S. consumer spending and construction spending, offset a drop in the consumer sentiment gauge.

Banks higher

In Japan, Sunday's failure of mid-sized builder Sato Kogyo Co Ltd with 590 billion yen ($4.42 billion) in group debt also boosted the market, as it reflected a sign of progress on the disposal of banks' bad loans.

Mizuho Holdings, the world's largest bank by assets, surged 8.85 percent to 283,000 yen. Sumitomo Mitsui rose 6.04 percent to 544 yen, while UFJ Holdings jumped 7.51 percent to 315,000 yen.

In the tech sector, Advantest Corp, Japan's top maker of computer chip-testing devices, jumpedp 9.65 percent to 10,000 yen.

Consumer electronics giant Sony Corp rose 2.71 percent to 6,440 yen, while rival Kyocera Corp jumped 6.17 percent to 8,780.

In the auto sector, Japan's leading car maker Toyota Motor Corp gained 4.35 percent to 3,600 yen, while rival Honda Motor added 5.94 percent at 5,710 yen.

20-month high

In Seoul, shares hit a 20-month high in early trade led by technology stocks and mounting inflows of equity capital encouraging local institutional buying, fund managers said.

The benchmark Kospi was up 2.70 percent to 842.10, while the over-the-counter Kosdaq rose 3.49 percent to 81.46.

Memory chip giant Samsung Electronics was up 4.66 percent to 359,000 won.

An eight-day strike by unionized power workers at state-run Korea Electric Power Corp had little impact as KEPCO shares gained 0.7 percent to 22,100.

In Australia, the share market remained in positive territory but profit taking among heavyweight banking stocks capped earlier gains.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 7.9 points, 0.23 percent to 3,425.2 off an earlier high of 3,434.4.

Better-than-expected result from supermarket leader Woolworths also underpinned local confidence.

Woolworths rallied 2.8 percent to A$12.48 after it announced an interim net profit rise of 24 percent to A$295.5 million ($153.7 million).

Investors will switch their focus to local economic data as the Reserve Bank of Australia is to meet Tuesday to discuss monetary policy.

Among stocks, the big four banks were all lower, led down by a 0.5 percent slip in ANZ Bank to A$18.35.

Blue chips soar

In Taiwan, stocks were sharply higher in early trade, with the main Taiex index up 165.31 points, or 2.91 percent to 5,856.09.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, rose T$4.00, or 4.9 percent, to T$85.00 boosted by a 7.14 percent rally in its ADR.

Rival United Microelectronics Corp shot up T$2.80 or six percent to T$49.80. Its ADRs gained nearly nine percent on Friday.

Among other active stocks, chipset designer VIA Technologies was up 2.1 percent at T$145.50.

In Hong Kong, the main index surged in early trade, tracking Wall Street's rally. The Hang Seng index rose 2.14 percent to 10,647.99.

Blue chips rose across the board, including HSBC Holdings, even though it is expected to announce a sharp fall in 2001 net profit later Monday. HSBC was up 1.46 percent to HK$86.75.

Singapore shares jumped more than two percent in early trade. The Straits Times index was up 2.61 percent at 1,766.42.

Among the gainers were electronics contract manufacturer Venture Manufacturing, up 11.56 percent at S$16.40 after it reported better-than-expected 2001 earnings last Friday,

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing jumped 5.83 percent to S$4.72, after it increased its first-quarter guidance and pointed to a sector recovery.