Nikkei lower, but most of Asia up


Investors are taking profits in Japanese bank stocks ahead of results later Friday

Staff and wires

TOKYO, Japan -- Asian markets are mainly higher heading into the afternoon Friday, but profit-taking among investors is keeping Japan lower.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 average ended the morning down 81.91 points or 0.68 percent at 11,897.94, while the broader capital-weighted Topix index fell 5.13 points or 0.45 percent to 1,131.75.

On Thursday the Nikkei touched a nine-month high.

In Seoul, the Kospi is more than 1 percent higher, while Taiwan's Taiex is rebounding sharply to be ahead almost 2.5 percent by midday.

Singapore and Australia are also slightly higher. After a shaky start, Hong Kong is moving in and out of the black.

Asia's gains follow on from Wall Street Thursday, where the Dow Jones industrial average ended about half a percent higher at 10,216.08 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose a sharp 1.44 percent to 1697.63.

The Japanese yen is trading at about 125.25 against the dollar, while gold is about $320.70 to $321.20 in early Hong Kong trade.

Focus on banks

The big mover in Japan Friday is the banking sector, where the four big banks -- Mizuho Holdings, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and UFJ Holdings -- will release earnings later in the day.


Mizuho and three other megabanks will likely report heavy losses for the year to March 2002

Investors looking to cash in ahead of the results are sending the banks down, with UFJ off 1.56 percent at 379,000 yen and Mizuho down 2.3 percent to 295,000 yen.

SMBC lost 1.6 percent to 683 yen, but MTFG is moving against the trend, up 0.8 percent to 960,000 yen.

All four banks are set to post massive losses for the year to March 2002. Their bad debts and loan provisions will be the focus of attention.

Telco stocks are also lower, outweighing a rebound in auto stocks. Mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo is off 3.5 percent to 332,000 yen and parent NTT is down 2 percent to 568,000 yen.

Japan Telecom, controlled by Vodafone, is down 2.5 percent to 426,000 yen. It reportedly will undergo a restructure which could see its fixed-line operations sold off.

Among carmakers, frontrunner Toyota rose 2.35 percent, Honda jumped 2.6 percent and No. 3 maker Nissan gained 1.07 percent to 948 yen.

Korea, Australia higher

In Seoul, where the Kospi is 1.2 percent higher at 855.63, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is up 2.2 percent to 368,500 won and SK Telecom is 2.5 percent higher at 288,500 won.

But Posco and Hyundai Motor are lower.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is 0.23 percent higher at 3381.2 heading into the afternoon.

Banks are continuing to post gains, as are selected resources stocks and gold miners, with AngloGold up 2.1 percent to A$12.00. But market heavyweight News Corp is down about 1 percent to A$13.32.

Taiwan's Taiex is up 125 points or 2.26 percent to 5675.24.

Chip foundry UMC is up sharply, putting on 2.6 percent to T$47.20. The biggest foundry, TSMC, rose 1.15 percent to T$88. Hon Hai Precision rose 1.8 percent to T$170.

In Singapore, banking leaders DBS and OCBC are higher, with most other blue chips steady. The Straits Times index is marginally higher, up 0.13 percent to 1719.94 near midday.

In Hong Kong, the market has crept back into the black after a shaky start. The Hang Seng index is about 6 points or 0.05 percent higher at 11,628.28.

China Mobile and HSBC, the market's two biggest issues, are both slightly higher, as are Henderson Land and Johnson Electric.

Hutchison Whampoa is down about 1 percent to HK$67.75.

In India Thursday, Mumbai's BSE closed at a six-month low of 3114.05, off 61.44 points or 1.9 percent.

Karachi's stock exchange was closed Thursday to allow it to overcome a backlog of processing work.