Tokyo leads Asia to higher close


Tokyo made a surprising rebound following news U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart would buy a stake in Seiyu

HONG KONG, China -- Japan snapped a two-day slide on late news U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores would buy a strategic stake in Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu.

Markets in Australia, Korea and Hong Kong were also higher, but Taiwan slipped on concerns about sagging profits among U.S. techs.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 average closed up 1.34 percent, or 153.31 points, at 11,568.82, while the broader Topix index rose 0.76 percent, or 8.18 points, to 1,083.88.

Singapore was flat for most of the day, but broke through into the black near the end of trading. India was also up slightly.

Seiyu stake

The news of a possible strategic stake in Seiyu by Wal-Mart caught investors off guard and gave market sentiment a much-needed lift.

Seiyu surged 26.67 percent, or by its daily limit of 80 yen, to 380 yen, while trading house Sumitomo Corp, Seiyu's top shareholder, shot up 6.98 percent to 766 yen.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Holdings, the world's largest bank by assets, rose 2.72 percent to 340,000 yen, while Daiwa Bank Holdings chalked up 4.21 percent to 99 yen.

UFJ Holdings was up 0.6 percent to 341,000 yen, Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group added 4000 yen or half a percent to 861,000 yen, but Sumitomo Mitsui Banking slipped 1 percent to 556 yen.

Electronics giant Sony Corp added 3.81 percent to 7,090 yen, while Kyocera Corp gained 3.58 percent to 9,540 yen.

Japan's leading automaker Toyota Motor rose 1.06 percent, but rival Honda dropped 0.55 percent to 5,440 yen. Nissan also slipped, down 0.2 percent to 863 yen.

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's leading mobile phone carrier, rose 2.45 percent to 1.67 million yen.

In South Korea, shares rebounded to a higher close, lifted by bargain hunting from retail investors and late-session program buying.

The main Kospi closed up 0.91 percent at 856.86, while the over-the-counter Kosdaq ended 0.61 percent higher at 87.49.

Retailers and chemical shares surged on individual buying. But gains were capped as investors continued to cash in on recent gains in technology shares.

Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chipmaker, finished down 1.15 percent at 344,000 won.

SK Telecom Co, South Korea's biggest mobile carrier, lost 0.2 percent to 275,000 won.

Positive news

In Australia, the stock market broke its four-day losing streak and nudged to a slightly higher close on more positive economic news.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 1.9 points at 3,451.9

Australia's February employment data showed a rise of 20,400 jobs, compared with expectations of a fall of 27,500. The unemployment rate also fell to 6.6 percent.

Coles Myer, Australia's biggest retailer, rose 49 cents, or six percent, to A$8.67, after investors ignored its disappointing first half profit, and eyed its healthy full-year outlook instead.

Buildings materials group James Hardie was another strong performer, rallying 8.1 percent to A$6.53 following news it had signed an agreement to sell its U.S.-based gypsum business for $345 million in cash.

Transport group Patrick rallied 2.4 percent to A$16.44, following news of a partnership with Richard Branson's Virgin Blue.

Resources giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were among the decliners. BHP lost three percent to A$11.50, while its rival fell 2.3 percent to A$38.69.

In Taiwan, stocks ended down for the third straight session, weighed by overnight losses on Wall Street.

The benchmark Taiex share index closed down 17.84 points, or 0.29 percent, at 6,070.50.

But some tech shares ignored sagging profits at global microchip giant Intel. Rain falling in northern Taiwan raised hopes that a drought that has threatened chip production in the area could ease in the coming weeks.

Mosel Vitelic shares added T$0.70, 0r 3.8 percent, to T$19.10, and rival Winbond Electronics shares added T$0.80, or 3.08 percent, to T$26.80.

An extended drought would hurt tech firms, particularly semiconductor makers, because they require large amounts of water to cool equipment and maintain precise humidity in "clean rooms".

Wall Street decline

In Singapore, shares were down initially, but the key Straits Times Index moved back into the black near the end of trading. It was up 0.2 percent, or about 4 points, at 1,789.

Jet fuel importer China Aviation Oil Corp climbed as much as 5.4 percent after posting a jump in 2001 net profit to S$40.55 million on the back of a drastic cut in costs and increase in other income.

In the technology sector, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world's third largest contract chipmaker, fell 1.2 percent to S$4.94.

DBS Group Holdings was unchanged at S$14.60, as was United Overseas Bank at S$14.40.

SingTel was slightly higher at S$1.68.

Shares in Hong Kong reversed early losses to end the day slightly higher as investors shrugged off concerns that the pace of recovery in the United States may be slower than expected.

The Hang Seng Index closed 86.20 points or 0.77 percent higher at 11,303.70.

A rise in telecom stocks helped keep the main index off earlier lows, following gains in telecom issues in London.

Shares of mainland China's top cellular phone operator, China Mobile, rose 1.6 percent to HK$25.35 on expectations it would post a 54 percent increase in 2001 earnings on Monday, thanks to subscriber growth.

Rival China Unicom was up 1.3 percent to HK$7.85. Banking leader HSBC was up half a percent to HK$92.50.

Sun Hung Kai Properties added 1.2 percent to HK$62.75.