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Tokyo in red, rest of Asia up
Staff and wires
TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks reversed early gains to dip into the red by midday Thursday. Most other Asian markets are higher. The Nikkei 225 average ended the morning down 1.11 percent at 8,659.11, after jumping almost 1 percent at the open. The broader capital weighted Topix is 0.69 percent lower to 864.19. Both are seeing their losses mount as the afternoon starts, with the Nikkei down 1.72 percent. Elsewhere in the region, the gains are being led by Taiwan, where the Taiex is up almost 2 percent after a tech rally helped lift Wall Street. Nasdaq closed 2.0 percent higher and the Dow Jones industrial average put on 0.7 percent. (Full story) Australia, Korea, HK upAustralia's S&P/ASX200 is 0.96 percent higher at 3,035.1 after good earnings results from Westpac Bank and a solid showing from BHP Billiton. In Seoul, the Kospi is down 0.17 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is also down 0.17 percent. Singapore is in the red, off almost 1.5 percent just past noon. Analysts have given a lukewarm response so far to the Japanese government's long-awaited plan to clean up massive bad debts in the banking system. But big banks are seeing the brighter side, with Mizuho Holdings and UFJ Holdings showing strong gains. Mizuho, the world's largest banking group by assets, is up 5.14 percent at 184,000 yen and UFJ is 5.7 percent higher at 185,000 yen. Toyota, Mazda make gains
That comes after the government report, released late Wednesday, steered away from putting a time frame on a key proposal that could hurt many banks' capital. (Full story) Good earnings such as Toyota Motor Corp. are also helping to stem losses. It is 2.54 percent higher at 3,030 yen and is the most active issue by value on the first section. Toyota, Japan's leading automaker, on Wednesday reported its best operating profit for any half year. (Full story) Mazda is up 3.38 percent to 275 yen after almost trebling its profit forecast. (Full story) "Individual issues like Toyota are attracting buyers, but overall the market is still struggling to work out what this banking package means for the market," Reiko Nakayama, head of investment strategy at Marusan Securities, told Reuters. Some Japanese techs are weaker, with Sony off 1.86 percent, Hitachi down 1.63 percent and Fujitsu down 3.16 percent to 399 yen. That adds to Fujitsu's 7.0 percent dive in the previous session and is near a new multi-decade low. The company said on Tuesday it would stay in the red this business year as an IT slump spurred further costly job cuts. But computer and chipmaker Toshiba is up almost 3 percent to 312 yen. Seoul chipmakers higherIn Seoul, Samsung Electronics is up 1.63 percent to 343,500 won and volatile rival Hynix is 3.26 percent higher at 475 won. Telecom KT Corp. has put on 1.4 percent to 50,500 won. In Australia, resources giant BHP Billiton is up 1.5 percent to A$9.53 after delivering solid first-quarter earnings that matched expectations. (Full story) Westpac, the smallest of Australia's big four lenders, is 2.93 percent higher at A$14.07. It reported a record full year profit of almost $1.2 billion Thursday, but warned of a volatile global outlook. (Full story) Other banks are also higher. Big retailer Coles Myer, the center of a long-running boardroom dispute, is weaker again, off 0.16 percent to A$6.33. (Full story) In Hong Kong, blue chip conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa gave up early gains as property stocks sank ahead of the half-year budget deficit. Those figures are due after the close of the market. Mobile giant China Mobile has also turned into the red, with China Telecom pricing its stock offering on Thursday. Sinopec is up 2.5 percent to HK$1.21 after meeting expectations in its earnings report. (Full story) Singapore's three main banks, DBS, OCBC and UOB, were all lower in morning trade. SingTel is up 1.4 percent to S$1.43. In Taiwan, gainers include chip foundries TSMC and UMC and textile makers Far East Textile and Shinkong Synthetic. Reuters contributed to this report.
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