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Asian rally closes a down week
By Alex Frew McMillan
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Stocks rallied across Asia on Friday, ending a harrowing week on a positive note. Japan's Nikkei 225 average came off two days of new 19-year lows to rise 1.07 percent, to 8,529.61. The broader Topix index climbed 1.53 percent to 848.43. Taiwan sold off heavily, dropping almost 2.5 percent. That market was spared Thursday's selling because it was closed for the island's "Double Ten" national holiday. It was positives almost everywhere else. Australia and New Zealand both closed almost 1 percent higher. In Singapore, the Straits Times index is trading up more than that near the close of trade there. Hong Kong ended with a modest rise of half a percent, with Korea up a little over that, though the Kosdaq set a new low. BOJ to buy back stockIn Japan, the market moved broadly higher, mapping a gain in U.S. stocks and coming off a 19-year low close of 8,439.62, its lowest since March 1983. But the Nikkei lost 5.5 percent for the week despite Friday's boost. The central Bank of Japan said after the close of trading that it will buy 2 trillion ($16.2 billion) in stocks from Japan's troubled banks by the end of the year at the latest. The BOJ ended a two-day policy meeting Friday, but took no action on monetary policy, as expected. (Full story) It said it would keep its target for current-account deposits left at the BOJ at 10-15 trillion yen. Chip- and electronics makers enjoyed good runs, Mitsubishi Electric rising 3.31 percent to 343 yen. NEC, Japan's largest cell-phone maker, closed up 3.28 percent at 473 yen, after announcing a sales target of 3 million units a year for its camera-equipped phones in China. (Full story) Overseas holdings upSeveral favorites of overseas funds had decent gains, as hedge funds covered some short positions. But sentiment is very shaky. Cell-phone service NTT DoCoMo, Tokyo's largest listing, put on 3.21 percent to end at 225,000 yen after a ratings upgrade this week.
Toyota Motor rallied 2.64 percent to 2,920 yen, with Honda Motor up 1.3 percent to 4,690 yen. Ahead of the announcement of the much-anticipated BOJ plan to buy stocks, Mizuho Holdings fell 4.4 percent to 174,000 yen. Mizuho said it would cut its loans and other risk assets by as much as 10 trillion yen in an effort to improve its capital ratio. UFJ Holdings, which like Mizuho set a record low this week, lost 3.68 percent to end at 183,000 yen. The other big banks were little changed. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group gained 0.25 percent to 804,000 yen, with Sumitomo Mitsui off 0.19 percent to 518 yen. Taiwan near 12-month lowTaiwan's Taiex was the only notable loser in the Asia Pacific. It dropped 2.47 percent to 3,850.04, its lowest close since October 2001. The market opened higher after a rise in U.S. techs but gave way by midday. Chip foundry TSMC finished down 0.83 percent at T$35.70. Rival contract chipmaker UMC dropped 1.93 percent to T$20.30. Memory-chip maker Macronix and electronic parts maker Hon Hai Precision were both down 7 percent, the limit for a one-day move in Taiwan. Korea seen as underpricedIn South Korea, the Kospi rose a modest 0.59 percent to 587.51, a day after falling almost 6 percent. But the small-cap, tech-oriented Kosdaq market fell 0.16 percent to 43.67, the worst close in its six-year history. Kookmin Bank, the country's largest retail lender, jumped 4.71 percent to 38,900 won as it continues to buy back its own stock. Steelmaker POSCO posted a solid gain of 1.45 percent to 105,000 won. The turnaround in Asia comes after a strong performance on Wall Street Thursday, where a solid profit report and forecast from Yahoo helped boost the tech sector. The Nasdaq composite index jumped 4.42 percent to 1,163.37, and the Dow Jones industrial average ended 3.4 percent higher at 7,533.95. (Full story) Australia up almost 1 percentIn Sydney, Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lifted 0.97 percent to 2,924.6. The market's largest listing, News Corp., ran up 4.7 percent to A$9.17 after U.S. regulators blocked an EchoStar Communications bid for U.S. satellite broadcaster DirecTV. That may reopen a door for News. Qantas Airways climbed 1.7 percent to A$3.67 as investors factored in its likely deal to buy 25 percent of Air New Zealand. Banks generally moved higher, recouping some of Thursday's lost ground. But Westpac sank again, off 0.23 percent to A$13.07. Resources companies were up, BHP Billiton gaining 2.9 percent to A$9.20 and Rio Tinto adding 2.7 percent. New Zealand's Top 40 index climbed 0.84 percent to 1,992.10. Telecom New Zealand dominated turnover with a 1.4 percent run to NZ$5.06. HSBC gives Hong Kong solid runIn Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index finished up 1.21 percent at 8,965.73. Bank stock HSBC, the largest component in the index, explained much of the gain, up 2.5 percent to HK$82.00. Troubled telecom and Net concern PCCW is still trading in penny-share land, up 1.1 percent to HK$0.93. China's No. 2 cell-phone company, China Unicom, set another record low close, down 2.9 percent to HK$4.15. Its Hong Kong shares have sold off after it this week floated the second-largest offering in the history of China's domestic A share market. Singapore's Straits Times index is also up 1.21 percent, at 1,373.75 in late-afternoon trade, boosted by gains in banks and blue chips like Singapore Airlines.
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