Tokyo's surge leads Asian gains


Tokyo surged in afternoon trade, with Taiwan also locking in a solid performance and Hong Kong recovering at the close

HONG KONG, China -- Asian stocks moved firmly ahead on Thursday, with Japan surging in afternoon trade.

The Tokyo market locked in the strongest gains in the region, having broken for midday only slightly in the black.

The Nikkei 225 average climbed 1.78 percent to 9,814.02. The broader Topix index almost matched that, up 1.44 percent to 961.01.

Taiwan rose almost 1.5 percent and both Australia and New Zealand put on close to 1 percent. Singapore is above the same mark heading into the close.

Among the main Asian markets, only Hong Kong spent Thursday in the red, and even it recovered to show a modest gain.

Short-cover rally in Tokyo

In Tokyo, the market surged in late trade as overseas investors scurried to cover short positions in technology stocks.

Advantest Corp., Japan's largest maker of memory chip testing devices, jumped 5.03 percent to 6,060 yen, after a 7 percent run on Advantest stock in U.S. trading on Wednesday.

Toshiba Corp., the world's second-largest memory-chip maker, raced ahead 5.05 percent tot 436 yen. Hitachi rose 3.64 percent to 684 yen. Computer maker NEC Corp. rose 1.76 percent to 692 yen.


HSBC gained after it said it is buying the fifth-largest bank in Mexico

Electronics exporter Sony Corp. lifted 2.43 percent to 5,490 yen, with the yen again weaker at 118.96 to the U.S. dollar and the prospect it may go above 120 yen.

Banks also locked in solid gains, with Mizuho Holdings up 3.23 percent to 256,000 yen. SMBC lifted 2.3 percent to 629 yen. UFJ Holdings climbed 2.2 percent to 279,000 yen.

The Koizumi administration is reportedly considering extending a full government guarantee on ordinary bank deposits, which would be a considerable backtrack from reform promises.

Japan's Finance Ministry said Thursday that exports rose in July, but the figures were weaker than expected and the trade surplus narrowed.(Full Story)

Taiwan gets Nasdaq boost

Taiwan led Asia's gains before Tokyo's afternoon run. The Taiex closed higher and steady, up 1.4 percent at 4,956.49.

The index got no help from its largest listing, chip foundry TSMC, which closed flat at T$53.00. But smaller rival UMC climbed 1.31 percent to T$31.00, and the electronics subindex as a whole rose 1.33 percent.

Flat-screen maker AU Optronics put on 4.12 percent to T$27.80 and was the most active stock on the day. Its competitor Chungwa Picture Tubes drove up 1.72 percent to T$17.70.

Tech bulls were spurred on by Nasdaq's 2.4 percent rise Wednesday and a 1.0 gain on the Dow. (Full U.S. roundup)

Korea ends almost flat

Korea's tech-influenced Kospi index gave up its heady pace of the last two days. The index closed slightly in the black, up 0.08 percent at 745.75.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics closed up 3.57 percent at 58,000 won after winning a $500 million deal to sell cutting-edge circuit boards to Intel Corp. by 2005.

Stablemate and TV maker Samsung SDI rose 4.03 percent to 92,900 won on optimism about its future earnings.

Samsung Electronics finally fell despite continuing a large-scale stock buyback. It ended down 0.7 percent at 347,500 won as overseas investors took the opportunity to sell.

The central Bank of Korea said the country's economy grew 1.4 percent in the June quarter, slightly less than expected as construction and consumer spending slowed.(Full Story)

Sydney crests to five-week high

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index bumped up 0.99 percent to 3,195.7. That's a five-week high.


After the end of Hong Kong trade, tycoon Li Ka-shing's flagship Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa reported profits

News Corp. climbed 3.9 percent to A$10.81, making back Wednesday's 3.3 percent fall.

Mining stocks showed considerable strength, BHP Billiton up 2.4 percent to A$9.55 and Rio Tinto ahead 2.7 percent to A$33.90.

Large caps are attracting attention now the U.S. market appears to have stabilized again.

Commonwealth Bank moved up 0.75 percent to A$32.25 after Australia's second-largest bank reported better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday.

New Zealand's Top 40 added 0.91 percent to finish at 2,056.00. Telecom New Zealand rose 1.2 percent to NZ$5.06.

Hutch, Cheung Kong after the bell in HK

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index recovered at the bell to end in the black, having traded with losses most of the day.

The index rose 0.21 percent to 10,424.00.

Li Ka-shing's flagship Cheung Kong Holdings ended flat at HK$58.25 ahead of earnings. It earned HK$3.92 billion ($503 million) for the first half of the year.

Its affiliate Hutchison Whampoa fell 0.45 percent to HK$55.50 before its profit release, like Cheung Kong's after the bell.

Hutchison made HK$5.95 billion for the first six months. Both companies outdid analyst expectations.

Wharf Holdings, another conglomerate coming in with earnings, rose 2.73 percent to HK$16.95.

Bank HSBC added 0.55 percent to end at HK$90.75 after announcing it will buy a Mexican bank. (Full Story)

Singapore's Straits Times index is up 1.05 percent at 1,549.59 heading toward the close of trade. Banks such as DBS, up more than 2 percent in morning trade, led the early going.

Links Island declined another 2 percent after falling more than 60 percent on Wednesday as it came back to action after a two-year ban.