Tokyo takes Asia to higher close


The yen sold off in Asian trade, after a show of confidence in the dollar and Wall Street, easing pressure on exporters

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian markets closed broadly higher Thursday, led by strong gains in Japan and building on a confidence boost on Wall Street.

In Tokyo, the broad Topix index finished more than 2.2 percent higher at 1,010.12.

The tech-heavy Nikkei 225 ended the day with a rise of just under 2 percent, putting on 202.24 points to 10,498.26.

Japanese banks, tech stocks and telecoms were all higher, building on the hint of a turnaround in U.S.markets.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq gained 1.6 percent in Wednesday trade in the United States. It outstripped the other indexes, though the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P500 both gained (full story).

Other markets stronger

Outside Japan, almost all the main exchanges in the region closed higher, with Australia and New Zealand both up almost 1 percent.


Tokyo led the gains, with Hong Kong and Australia not far behind

South Korea, back in action after Wednesday's public holiday, put on a modest 0.31 percent to take the Kospi to 773.85.

But Taiwan slipped just into the red after a strong start that saw it almost 1.2 percent higher at midday. The Taiex closed 0.17 percent lower at 5,242.11

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended 1.14 percent higher at 10,452, while Singapore's Straits Times index ended slightly down.

Sony bounces back

The yen was weaker on Thursday, back above 117 to the U.S. dollar. The Korean won is at 1,174.3 after hitting a 20-month high earlier this week.


Sony, home of the Aibo dog, has rejected claims it is in the doghouse over its accounting procedures

South Korea's Hyundai Motor said Thursday it could hit its 2002 profit target if the won stays below 1,150 for the year.

The yen's easing helped Sony, which finished 4.32 percent to 5,800 yen. Sony hit a year-to-date low on Wednesday, down 4.1 percent and buffeted by questions about its accounting. Sony rejected doubts about its finances.

Toshiba jumped 4.4 percent to 502 yen after saying strong demand would force it to cancel local summer holiday plans at its Japanese chip plants.

DoCoMo and parent end up

Among other technology stocks, Hitachi surged 5.4 percent to 779 yen.

Fujitsu ended 2 percent higher at 827 yen after confirming it plans to move circuit-board production to Vietnam (full story).

Mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo closed 4.35 percent up and parent NTT rose about 1.9 percent.

Rivals KDDI and Japan Telecom jumped 4.9 percent and 4.34 percent respectively.

Among the big banks, UFJ Holdings did best, up 3.56 percent to 291,000 yen.

Automakers rose sharply. Nissan put on 4.64 percent, Honda rose 2.9 percent and Toyota added 80 yen or 2.76 percent to 2,980 yen.

Taipei finishes in the red

In Taiwan, the Taiex finished just in the red at 5,242.11 after market heavyweight TSMC slipped 3.73 percent to T$64.50. Taiwan's other big chip foundry, UMC, also eased, down 2.45 percent to T$39.80.

Big industrials such as Nan Ya Plastic were stronger, while Hon Hai Precision was the standout among the techs, up 6.3 percent to T$152.00.

South Korea's market returned after a national holiday on Wednesday. The Kospi closed 0.31 percent higher at 773.85 after going as high as 780.28.

Investor favorite SK Telecom was flat at 265,000 won, and Samsung Electronics put on 0.85 percent to 357,000 won.

Rival chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor continued its market recovery, jumping 10 percent to 705 won. It touched a record low of 195 won on June 27.

Big steelmaker Posco added 3 percent to 136,000 won, but Hyundai Motor dipped 2.9 percent to 31,750 won.

Miners move ahead

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index recovered almost all of Wednesday's fall to close 0.96 percent higher at 3152.3.

Gainers included miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. But News Corp slipped. Big banks were stronger.

Woodside Petroleum closed up 1.13 percent at A$13.47 despite announcing a 14 percent drop in first-half sales (full story).

In Hong Kong, HSBC underpinned the market with a 0.86 percent rise to HK$87.50. Cheung Kong rose but new offering CK Life Sciences headed back toward its HK$2 debut price.

Artificial Christmas-tree maker Boto International admitted it had broken stock-market rules on disclosures (full story).

Preliminary figures showed that Singapore's Straits Times index closed down 0.21 percent at 1,579.90.