Asia closes higher on tech surge


Wall Street's impressive gains propelled Tokyo shares higher

HONG KONG, China -- Asian markets closed sharply higher Wednesday, with tech stocks getting a boost from Wall Street's strong performance.

South Korea did best, with the Kospi surging more than 3.2 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 2.8 percent.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 average ended the day up 197.05 points, or 1.74 percent, to 11,543.71. The broader capital-weighted Topix index added 11.45 points, or 1.06 percent, at 1089.60.

Elsewhere in the region, Australia and Taiwan were also up strongly, while Singapore was slightly ahead near the close.

The markets were buoyed by Wall Street, where on Tuesday the Nasdaq composite index jumped 3.59 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 2.06 percent.

Tech surge

In Tokyo, chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron jumped 4.75 percent to 9700 yen, while Advantest Corp, Japan's top maker of chip testing devices, rose 4.85 percent to 9940 yen.


With a new MPV model on show, Mazda shares again rose, jumping almost 5 percent Wednesday

Chip and computer makers Hitachi, Toshiba, NEC and Fujitsu were all higher, with Toshiba doing best, up 2.48 percent to 578 yen.

Mitsubishi Electric jumped 4.28 percent to 585 yen and consumer electronics leader Sony rose 2.3 percent to 7050 yen.

But in the banking sector, Mizuho Holdings dropped 2.75 percent to 283,000 yen and UFJ Holdings slipped 1.27 percent to 312,000 yen. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group, which dropped the previous day, rose 2 percent to 869,000 yen.

In other sectors, Japan's dominant mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo added 1.52 percent to 334,000 yen and parent NTT rose 1.87 percent to 491,000 yen. DoCoMo said Wednesday it would license its i-mode technology to France's No. 3 mobile telco, Bouygues Telecom

No. 5 carmaker Mazda rose 4.8 percent to 371 yen and Nissan put on 3.46 percent to 956 yen. Market leader Toyota Motor added 0.28 percent to 3620 yen and Honda Motor gained 1.28 percent to 5530 yen.

In South Korea, shares jumped more than 3.2 percent to a fresh 26-month high, lifted by Hyundai Motor, chip giant Samsung Electronics and other technology shares.

The benchmark Kospi closed 29.22 points or 3.24 percent higher at 930.51, after touching 932.67 earlier in the day.

Hyundai Motor jumped 9.32 percent to 49,850 won. Samsung Electronics finished 4.37 percent higher at 406,000 won, while rival Hynix Semiconductor eased 0.37 percent to 1360 won.

SK Telecom Co, South Korea's top mobile carrier, jumped 4.87 percent to 280,000 won and KT Corp put on 2.46 percent to 62,500 won. Dacom, the No. 3 fixed-line carrier, rose 3.17 percent to 32,500 won after announcing it would make a joint bid for Kepco's cable unit, Powercomm.

Blue chips up

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 14.7 points or 0.43 percent to 3401.3.

Market leader News Corp added 11 cents, or 0.87 percent, to A$12.71, and National Australia Bank rose 16 cents or about half a percent to A$33.75.

Retailer Woolworths set a record intra-day high of A$13.09 before easing to A$13.02. Resources leader BHP Billiton added 1.2 percent to A$11.74.

In Taiwan, the benchmark Taiex rose 132.95 points, or 2.12 percent, to an 18-month high of 6,390.68.

Microchip foundry TSMC was up 3.78 percent to T$96, while rival UMC jumped 4.59 percent to T$57.

Among computer makers, Asustek put on 3.5 percent to T$147. Hon Hai Precision was up 1.9 percent to T$159.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index went as high as 1792, before easing to be up 1.36 points or 0.08 percent at 1771.41 in late trade.

Banking leader DBS was up 0.7 percent and UOB rose 1.35 percent. OCBC eased 0.7 percent to S$13.80. Property stocks were flat, but tech issues such as Creative Technology and Chartered Semiconductor rose.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index surged 302.05 points or 2.8 percent to 11,090.58.

Property stocks were stronger, helped by muted inflation in the U.S. Banking leader HSBC rose almost 2 percent to HK$90, and conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa put on 3.8 percent to HK$67.75.

China's top personal computer maker Legend added 2.33 percent to HK$3.30.