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Asian stocks surge on tech gains
By Alex Frew McMillan
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian stocks are rallying on Thursday, with the whole region trading in positive territory as the afternoon sets off. Japan's Nikkei 225 average surged 2.01 percent to 9,054.32 at lunch, the first time in three weeks it has crossed 9,000. The Topix index rose 1.42 percent to 881.62 at the break, with a broad mix of banks to techs gaining. South Korea is again mapping Tokyo's progress, up more than 1.5 percent at noon. Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore are all up more than 1 percent. There are minimal gains in Taiwan and New Zealand, with negatives hard to find even among the minor markets. Wall Street stormed ahead Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average up 2.94 percent to 8,931.68. Techs in Asia got a boost from Nasdaq's 3.01 percent jump to its highest since June. (U.S. roundup) Chip gains in TokyoIn Tokyo, chip and computer companies are having a run as the latest figures suggest Japan's top trading partner, the United States, may have put the worst of its economic slide behind it.
NEC Corp. is up 3.65 percent to 483 yen, while specialty ceramics and circuit maker Kyocera Corp. is up 4.45 percent to 7,980 yen. Electronics maker Sony Corp., which gets a third of its sales in the United States, is up 1.5 percent to 5,420 yen. Chip-equipment maker Advantest, which relies on overseas markets for two-thirds of its revenues, leaped 9.63 percent to 5,920 yen on Nasdaq's gains. Fixed-line telecom NTT is near the top of the gains in volume terms, up 2.85 percent to 469,000 yen. Its cell-phone subsidiary NTT DoCoMo is ahead 2.53 percent to 243,000 yen. Banks higher ahead of planBanks are also up ahead of a report on the industry from Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka on Friday. (Japan readies cash for banks) Mizuho Holdings is up 3.05 percent to 135,000 yen, with UFJ Holdings ahead 2.42 percent to 127,000 yen. Shares in the central Bank of Japan are down 0.2 percent to 49,900 yen, its lowest level since 1986. The stock is very thinly traded, however, with only a small amount available to the public. The BOJ is due to start buying stock from the banks on Friday to help them unwind their cross-holdings, a move investors fear will hurt the BOJ's financial standing. U.S. plays up in AustraliaIn Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index is up 1.2 percent to 3,041.2, with U.S.-leaning companies also leading the way.
News Corp. is up 4.95 percent to A$12.50, while services company Brambles Industries is up 1.09 percent to A$4.65. Retailers like Billabong, which looks to the U.S. for a large chunk of sales, are also up. Telstra is up 1.58 percent to A$4.51 after the government said Wednesday it will delay its sale of a majority stake in the telecom by at least a year. The government also cut its forecast for the year as a fierce drought grips the country. (Full story) Mining stocks are faring well, with BHP Billiton up 3.04 percent to A$9.82. But investors said the Australian market will likely underperform if the U.S. rally continues, as fund managers switch out of defensive plays to seek capital gains. New Zealand's Top 40 closed up 0.15 percent to 1,949.01, with Telecom New Zealand up 0.42 percent to NZ$4.77 and wood products company Carter Holt Harvey up 2.42 percent to NZ$1.69. HSBC breaks downward runHong Kong's Hang Seng index is up 1.56 percent to 10,099.28, with its biggest listing HSBC breaking three days of losses. The banking giant is up 1.69 percent to HK$90.25, recovering some of the ground lost over doubts with its Household International deal in the United States. Oil producer CNOOC is up 1.04 percent to HK$9.70 despite China's announcement on Wednesday that its sales are down through October this year. Telecom company PCCW is surging yet again, up 4.0 percent to HK$1.56 as investors warm to its cost cutting efforts. Investors will be looking to Friday's gross domestic product figures to give them more guidance on Hong Kong's struggle to recover. Seoul gets buying spurtSouth Korea's Kospi is up 1.69 percent to 720.04, with overseas investors jumping into the market. The government announced Thursday that industrial output rose markedly in October, supported by stronger output of chips and cars. (Full story) Samsung Electronics is up 1.97 percent to 387,500 won, in reaction to the gains in U.S. techs. That's a seven-month high. Its stablemate, the flat-screen maker Samsung SDI, is also attracting buyers, up 4.66 percent to 85,300 won. Steelmaker Posco is up 4.80 percent to 120,000 won and leading automaker Hyundai Motor is steady at 34,100 won. Kookmin Bank is among the biggest gainers, up 6.2 percent to 43,750 won. Appointment hampers TaiwanTaiwan's Taiex is just keeping its head above water, up 0.02 percent to 4,633.75, with the market wary of the appointment of Lin Chuan as finance minister. Lin, the government's chief statistician, isn't well-known in financial circles, though he has advocated an income tax on stock gains. That is driving financial stocks lower, with Chang Hwa Bank down 3.59 percent to T$16.10. The market's two largest components are both higher, chip foundry UMC up 0.78 percent to T$26.00 and larger rival TSMC up 1.00 percent to T$50.50. Taiwan's tech gains are slight compared with Nasdaq's surge, though, as Taiwanese companies already have priced in Christmas-time sales gains. Singapore's Straits Times index is up 1.11 percent to 1,410.49, chip contractor Chartered Semiconductor again heading the gains with a heady 19.4 percent jump to S$1.17. It announced a partnership with IBM on Wednesday to share manufacturing, aimed at cutting costs. (Full story) Creative Technology is also up, putting on 2.78 percent to S$14.80. Malaysia's Genting group is 0.77 percent higher at M$13.10 after its 85-year-old founder, billionaire Lim Goh Tong, stepped down Wednesday as chief executive of the gaming company and its subsidiary Resorts World. (Full story)
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