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Asian stocks start week strongly
By Alex Frew McMillan
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian markets are sharply higher on Monday heading into afternoon trade, with Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan surging. All of those markets are up more than 2 percent. Australian stocks are also well into positive territory, though there are losses in New Zealand. Asian exchanges are feeling the follow through from a 2.3 percent jump in Nasdaq on Friday, and a 1.4 percent rise in the Dow Jones industrial average. U.S. stocks shook off a series of U.S. reports, including a rise in the jobless rate to 5.7 percent in October, up from 5.6 percent the month before. (Full story) Markets are closed in Japan for the Culture Day holiday on Monday. Singapore, Malaysia and India are all celebrating the Deepavali, or Diwali, holiday. The regional focus this week is on Phnom Penh, where the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are holding their annual summit. Japan, China and South Korea are also attending. (Full story) All Hang Seng components higherIn Hong Kong, every member of the Hang Seng index is trading in positive territory, as the index moves up 2.48 percent to 9,640.92 by late morning. Bank stock HSBC, the largest listing in Hong Kong, is up 1.75 percent to HK$87.25 ahead of a likely interest-rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve this week. Subsidiary Hang Seng is up 2.39 percent to HK$85.75.
With a currency that is pegged to the U.S. dollar, Hong Kong's interest rates map those in the United States. U.S.-leaning companies are also enjoying good gains, with clothing trader Li & Fung up 5.26 percent to HK$8.00. Small-motor maker Johnson Electric, which also gets most of its revenue in the United States, is up 4.46 percent to HK$8.20. Both China Mobile and China Unicom, the exchange's two Chinese telecom plays, are up as China Telecom gets ready to relaunch its failed initial public offering. That was pulled last week amid lackluster demand and now may be as much as halved in size. (Full story) Australia solidly in blackIn Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index is up 1.51 percent at 3,055.7, a relatively large gain for a generally restrained market. News Corp., the largest listing, is up a fiery 5.18 percent to A$11.17 as investors factor in the likely U.S. rate cut. Mining company BHP Billiton is up 2.33 percent to A$9.65, with Rio Tinto and WMC also moving higher. Despite Commonwealth Bank issuing a profit warning last Friday, banks are also broadly higher, with ANZ up 2.08 percent to A$18.66. Westpac reported full year results last week and NAB will report on Thursday. (Full story) Australia on Sunday reached a landmark agreement with Singapore for a free trade pact covering trade in goods and services. (Full story) In New Zealand, the benchmark Top 40 index closed down 0.17 percent at 2,036.19 despite a 1.56 percent rise in Telecom New Zealand, which ended at NZ$5.22. Fund manager and insurer Tower Ltd. plunged 44.2 percent to NZ$1.98 after it warned it will likely post a loss for the year and not pay a dividend. Korea topping the regionIn South Korea, the Kospi is showing the strongest gain in the Asia Pacific, up 3.19 percent to 668.28 at noon. Samsung Electronics is leading the gains with a 6.16 percent leap to 362,000 won, aided by a rise in spot prices of specialty chips. Rival Hynix Semiconductor is close to the daily 15 percent limit with a 12.09 percent rise to 510 won. Samsung's consumer electronics rival LG Electronics is also surging, up 5.46 percent to 38,650 won. Most big caps are higher, with cell-phone company SK Telecom up 2.25 percent to 227,500 won. Taiwan's market is also posting outsize gains, the Taiex rising 2.01 percent to 4,591.17. Screenmaker Au Optronics is topping the volume with a 2.65 percent rise to T$23.20. That is dragging rival CPT up, ahead 0.36 percent to T$13.85. The Nasdaq gains from Friday are driving electronics shares broadly higher, TSMC gaining 4.22 percent to T$46.90. Competitor UMC is up 4.52 percent to T$25.40.
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