Asian markets recover after Wall St. bounce


Japanese stocks had recovered much of Wednesday's losses after the first hour of trading

By staff and wires

TOKYO, Japan -- Asian markets have followed Wall St's lead to bounce back from the brink of meltdown Thursday, relieving immediate pressure on equity investments.

But market watchers are wary about how sustainable Wall St.'s recovery will be with some analysts saying the rebound was primarily technically based and did not reflect any great swing in investor sentiment.

Tokyo stocks surged early with the Nikkei gaining 189.99 points, or 1.91 percent, to 10,137.71 after the first half-hour of trading.

On Wednesday, the index lost 267.91 points, or 2.62 percent, and ended at 9,947.72.

The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the first section rose 11.49 points, or 1.18 percent, to 988.12 points early Thursday. Topix had fallen 16.20 points, or 1.63 percent, Wednesday.

"The 488-point rally in heavy trading could be interpreted as a sign of the market's bottoming-out," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of Nikko Cordial Securities' products group told Reuters.

Sony, the world's biggest consumer electronics maker, soared 3.41 percent to 5,460 yen, while its rival Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd jumped 2.39 percent to 1,500.

South Korea is posting the strongest early gains in Asia.

The main index, the Kospi, is up 2.64 percent at 741.19 by mid-morning. The secondary Kosdaq market is beating that, up 3.38 percent at 61.55.

Samsung Electronics, the largest stock in Seoul, is ahead 3.43 percent at 346,500 won after Nasdaq rose 5 percent overnight. Rival Hynix Semiconductor is up 7.8 percent at 550 won.

Tech buying

Cell-phone company SK Telecom is up 2.73 percent at 245,000 won. Cell-phone stocks have sold off in Asia after WorldCom's bankruptcy.

In Taiwan, the Taiex is up 2.4 percent at 5,160.52. TSMC is reversing Wednesday's losses, up 3.42 percent at T$60.50.

Rival chip foundry UMC is also enjoying a rise after a burst of tech buying on Wall Street. Taiwan's second-largest listing is up 2.75 T$37.30.

In Singapore, the Straits Times index is up 1.92 percent in early going, at 1,551.98.

The Australian stockmarket also traded positively on the opening, regaining much of Wedneday's big losses.

After the first hour of trading, the all ordinaries index had added 51 points, or 1.7 per cent, to reach 3,016.7.