|
||||||||
  |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Banks drive Tokyo stocks higher
Staff and wires
TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese bank stocks are sharply higher ahead of a key reform plan due later Wednesday, as Asian markets head into afternoon trade. UFJ Holdings is leading the banking sector's progress, up 7.1 percent. Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest bank by assets, is 5.5 percent higher. But tech stocks such as Fujitsu and Mitsubishi Electric are giving back the gains they made Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 average is up half a percent to 8757.67 at the midday break and the broader Topix is 0.8 percent higher at 869.80. But most other markets are in the red, with South Korea's Kospi doing the worst, down 1.2 percent to 664.87. Falls are mutedLosses around the region are muted, following a flat performance on Wall Street that saw the Dow end virtually unchanged and the Nasdaq lose 1.1 percent. (Full story) Australia's S&P/ASX200 is down about 0.3 percent, the New Zealand Top 40 is off 0.2 percent and Singapore's Straits Times index is about 0.1 percent lower. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng is down about 0.75 percent to 9562 in late morning trade. Taiwan is matching Tokyo's gains, with the Taiex 0.74 percent higher at 4587.66 on the strength of its industrials and banks. Tech leaders TSMC and UMC are down 1.9 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. In Tokyo, the auto sector is again weaker, save for Honda. It has regained some of the ground lost Tuesday, jumping 2.3 percent to 4480 yen. No.1 maker Toyota, which reports first half earnings later Wednesday, is 1.3 percent lower at 2960 yen. Among Japanese tech-related stocks, mobile phone leader NTT DoCoMo is 1.3 percent higher at 227,000 yen and Japan Telecom is up 3.4 percent to 332,000 yen. Canon is also up on strong earnings. On Tuesday it posted a more than 50 percent rise in net profit for the July-September quarter on strong sales of digital cameras. Compromise expected
Some analysts are skeptical that a bank-led rally in Tokyo will last. "All signs are that (Financial Services Minister Heizo) Takenaka has been forced to compromise on the key elements of the plan," Minoru Tada, senior managing director at World Nichiei Securities, told Reuters news agency. "This signals a major backtrack on banking reform, and a minus for the market in the medium to longer term." Takenaka may bow to opposition from banks and their political allies by excluding a date for imposing limits on the banks' use of "deferred tax assets" as capital. (Full story) UFJ Holdings, considered the weakest of Japan's four megabanks, has jumped 7.1 percent to 165,000 yen. Mizuho Holdings is 4.3 percent higher at 170,000 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is up 2.65 percent to 503 yen. The other member of the Big Four, MTFG, is up 1.5 percent. Fifth-ranked Resona Holdings, the former Daiwa Bank, is 4.5 percent higher at 69 yen. Fujitsu tumblesChip and computer maker Fujitsu Ltd is 6.32 percent lower at 415 yen after it said on Tuesday it would stay in the red this business year. (Full story) Matsushita Electric Industrial, due to report later in the day, is up 0.8 percent to 1295 yen. In Seoul, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is off 2.5 percent. Hynix Semiconductor is continuing to slide, off 5 percent to 480 won. Hyundai Motor has eased almost 3 percent to 31,650 won. Steel giant Posco is among the gainers, up 2.2 percent to 116,000 won. Australia's market is broadly lower, with only ANZ and CBA lodging modest gains among bank stocks. Blue chips News Corp, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are all off more than 2 percent. Grocery giant Woolworths is up half a percent, but embattled rival Coles is down slightly at A$6.38. In Singapore, Creative Technology and Singapore Airlines are showing gains, but banks DBS and OCBC are weaker. Hong Kong stocks are mixed, with HSBC, China Mobile and China Unicom in the red, but Tsingtao Brewery up 2 percent to HK$3.725 after a strong earnings result.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
