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Asia recovers to close higher
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian stocks staged a modest recovery in afternoon trade Tuesday to closer slightly higher. Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan managed gains, but South Korea and New Zealand stayed in the red. Singapore is essentially flat coming to the close. Japan's Nikkei 225 average, which was down 0.13 percent at the midday break after hefty losses the day before, crept into the black, closing 0.05 percent higher at 8,464.77. The broader Topix did better, putting on 0.29 percent to 839.62 despite a further selloff among some of the big banks. UFJ Holdings closed unchanged at 134,000 yen, but the three other big banks lost 2 percent or more. Australia posted a solid turnaround to close a third of a percent higher. South Korea had the day's heaviest losses, with the Kospi down just over 0.5 percent after being off almost 2 percent during morning trade. U.S. markets sold off sharply on Monday, with the Nasdaq closing 2.95 percent lower and the Dow Jones industrial average falling 2.09 percent to 8,358.95. (U.S. roundup) Stocks stabilize in Tokyo
Asian markets had anticipated that decline on Monday, when most markets fell more than 2 percent. (Full story) Stocks in the region stabilized on Tuesday, although tech-related issues in Tokyo such as Fujitsu, Hitachi, Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric all fell. Consumer electronics leader Sony was another to show a loss, down 1.2 percent to 4,870 yen, and specialty ceramics maker Kyocera fell 3.46 percent. But selected Japanese telecom stocks were big gainers. No. 2 cell-phone provider, KDDI, rebounded from Monday's sharp fall to put on 6.67 percent to 336,000 yen. Larger rival NTT DoCoMo rose 3.76 percent to 221,000 yen, though parent NTT lost 2.86 percent to 441,000 yen. Japan Telecom jumped 2.68 percent to 307,000 yen after it reported a return to profit in the September quarter and raised its forecast for the year. (Full story) Banks, which saw their stocks decimated on Monday, slipped again, with Mizuho Holdings down 2.03 percent to 145,000 yen, Sumitomo Mitsui off 2.65 percent to 404 yen and Mitsubishi Tokyo down 2.69 percent to 723,000 yen. Yen making itself feltLeading carmakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan managed some gains, but Mazda Motors ended the day 2.75 percent lower at 248 yen after posting earnings. (Full story)
Mitsubishi Motors also reported, and finished 0.43 percent lower at 230 yen. (Full story) Some exporters are suffering the fallout of a strengthening yen, as the dollar weakens ahead of possible war with Iraq. The yen has weakened off its two-month high set on Monday, but is still below 120 at 119.63 to the U.S. dollar in late Asian trade. Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday that he is closely watching foreign-exchange markets and that Japan must take "proper action" if the yen continues to strengthen. Exports are expected to prove a negative when Japan releases third-quarter gross domestic product figures on Wednesday, thanks mainly to the strength of the yen. Hong Kong in the blackHong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up 0.34 percent at 9,613.84. Property stock Hang Lung Group dipped 1.47 percent to HK$6.70 after Monday's announcement that it will be removed from the 33-stock Hang Seng as of December 2. (Full story) Hysan Development, which will also be removed, rose 2.00 percent to HK$6.15. Big bank HSBC edged ahead 0.29 percent to KK$86.75, with subsidiary Hang Seng up 1.18 percent to HK$85.50. Computer group Legend finished down 3.53 percent to HK$2.725 after releasing strong earnings but weak sales. (Full story) Turnaround in SydneyIn Sydney, the main S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.32 percent higher to 2,982.5, coming back from morning losses. Big caps News Corp. and Telstra were down 1.86 percent and 1.3 percent respectively, but miner BHP Billiton and the big banks made gains. Commonwealth Bank rose 3.13 percent to A$27.39. In New Zealand, the Top 40 closed down 0.11 percent at 1,946.33. Telecom New Zealand recovered from initial losses to end up 1.46 percent at NZ$4.88. It reported earnings near the low end of an already lowered forecast. (Full story) Kospi recovers most lost ground
In South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.51 percent to 654.43 as Samsung Electronics dipped 0.72 percent to 346,500 won. Cell-phone company SK Telecom eased 0.22 percent at 226,000 won, and Korea's largest car company, Hyundai Motor, lost 2.18 percent. In Taiwan, the Taiex put on 0.25 percent to 4,676.47. Chip foundry TSMC, the largest listing, dropped 1.9 percent to T$46.80. Smaller rival UMC lost 2.6 percent to T$25.90, but industrials and banks gained. Singapore's Straits Times index is down 0.1 percent at 1,402.94 with SingTel and Singapore Airlines both in the red.
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