Asian markets higher on tech surge


Wall Street's impressive gains propelled Tokyo shares higher

HONG KONG, China -- Asian markets climbed higher by midday Wednesday on surging tech stocks, boosted by Wall Street's upbeat performance.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 average ended the morning up 132.91 points, or 1.17 percent, to 11,479.57. The broader capital-weighted Topix index added 8.97 points, or 0.83 percent, at 1,087.12.

Elsewhere, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong all mirrored Wall Street, where muted inflation and cheery earnings comments propelled stocks ahead.

On Tuesday, the Nasdaq composite index jumped 3.59 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 2.06 percent, buoyed by upbeat financial forecasts from chip giant Texas Instruments and General Motors.

Tech surge

Japanese semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron jumped 4.75 percent to 9700 yen, while Advantest Corp, Japan's top maker of semiconductor testing devices, rose 4.01 percent to 9860 yen.

But Japan's winning run was capped by a lack of follow-through buying from institutional investors.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Holdings dropped 2.06 percent to 285,000 yen, while UFJ Holdings slipped 0.95 percent to 313,000 yen.

In other sectors, Japan's dominant mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo added 2.13 percent to 336,000 yen and parent NTT rose 2.7 percent to 495,000 yen. DoCoMo reportedly will license its i-mode technology to France's No. 3 mobile telco, Bouygues Telecom

Carmaker Toyota Motor added 0.83 percent to 3,640 yen, while Honda Motor gained 1.1 percent to 5,520 yen.

In South Korea, shares jumped more than three percent to a fresh 26-month high, lifted by chip giant Samsung Electronics and other technology shares.

The benchmark Kospi was up 29 points or 3.26 percent at 930.68, after touching 932.67 earlier in the morning.

Samsung shot up 5.27 percent to 409,500 won, while PC maker Trigem Computer jumped 6.4 percent to 11,950 won.

SK Telecom Co, South Korea's top mobile carrier, jumped 5.06 percent to 280,500 won.

Blue chips up

Australian blue chips gained across the board, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rising 0.31 percent, or 10.4 points, at 3,397.0 by midday.

Market leader News Corp added 34 cents, or 2.7 percent, to A$12.94, and National Australia Bank rose 11 cents at A$33.70. Retailer Woolworths continued on its record run, putting on another 6 cents or 0.46 percent to A$13.09.

Taiwan shares rose more than two percent to 18-month highs, with microchip makers surging on the strength of their U.S. counterparts.

The benchmark Taiex rose 131.56 points, or 2.10 percent, to 6,389.29.

Microchip foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was up 3.78 percent to T$96, while rival United Microelectronics jumped 4.59 percent to T$57.

In Singapore, the main Straits Times Index was up 0.76 percent, or 13.41 points, at 1783.46.

Chartered Semiconductor jumped 3.40 percent to S$4.86, while ST Assembly added 2.66 percent to S$3.08.

Hong Kong stocks were also higher in morning trade. The Hang Seng Index was up 1.71 percent, or 184.99 points, at 10,973.52

Property stocks were all up, helped by muted inflation in the U.S. China's top personal computer maker Legend Group added 1.55 percent to HK$3.27.

Banking leader HSBC put on 1.42 percent to HK$89.50 and Cheung Kong Holdings rose 2.18 percent to HK$70.25.