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Tokyo down, rest of Asia choppy
By Alex Frew McMillan
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Tokyo stocks are lower heading into afternoon trade on Monday, but Asian stocks generally lack direction. The Nikkei average is down 0.81 percent to 9,141.34 at the lunch break, with recent gainers seeing a little profit taking. The Nikkei hit a two-month high on Friday. The broader Topix index is down 0.63 percent to 887.10 as the market moves into Monday afternoon. There are gains in Hong Kong, up almost 1 percent, and both South Korea and Australia are slightly ahead. Taiwan and New Zealand are both narrowly in the red, though. Singapore is down a large amount but exchange officials say there is an error in the data. U.S. stocks fell on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average surrendering 0.4 percent to 8,896.09. Nasdaq fell 0.62 percent. But they were up for the eighth straight week (Full story) Chips dipping in TokyoIn Japan, chips and techs are sliding after recent gains. Toshiba Corp. is down 2.76 percent to 388 yen. NEC Corp., which hit a two-month high on Friday, is down 1.72 percent to 514 yen, while Mitsubishi Electric is off 5.17 percent to 330 yen. Bank stocks are generally lower after Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka brought out a timetable on Friday that aims to clean up the banking industry by March 2005.
Mizuho Holdings is down 2.92 percent to 133,000 yen, while UFJ Holdings is off 3.17 percent to 122,000 yen. They are both creditors of Daiei Inc., due to hold an extraordinary meeting of its shareholders on Monday to discuss its debt-reduction plans. (Full story) They reportedly include a plan to sell two restaurant chains and issue 3 billion yen in new stock. Daiei shares are up 5.07 percent to 145 yen. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, the new holding company for Big Four bank Sumitomo Mitsui, is trading at 424,00 yen on its debut. Advertising giant Dentsu Inc. is down 4.3 percent to 378,000 yen on a report that three other top agencies plan to pool their operations. Australia slightly aheadIn Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index is almost flat, up 0.25 percent to 3,069.2. News Corp. is up 1.81 percent to A$12.93, with big caps attracting some buying. Miner BHP Billiton is up 0.30 percent to A$10.15.
Bionic ear maker Cochlear is up 1.87 percent to A$38.20, gaining from improved prospects for the U.S. economy and worldwide growth. Investors will get a better picture of Australia's prospects on Wednesday, when its third quarter growth figures are due. Hutchison Telecom shares leaped 23.3 percent in afternoon trade, to A$0.30, after the subsidiary said it will outsource operation of its cell-phone networks to Ericsson for seven years. (Full story) Coles Myer is flat at A$6.57 after saying its Officeworks subsidiary will buy U.S. retailer Office Depot's operations in Australia. New Zealand's Top 40 closed very slightly down, off 0.08 percent to 1,952.46. The dip stemmed mainly from Telecom New Zealand, down 1.66 percent to NZ$4.75 after it paid its dividend. Hong Kong gets growth boostIn Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is up 0.93 percent, the biggest gain in Asia, as investors warm to stronger-than-expected growth figures. Bank stock HSBC is up 0.55 percent to HK$92.00, while Cheung Kong Holdings is up 1.31 percent to HK$58.00. The city reported Friday that gross domestic product grew at its fastest rate in more than two years in the third quarter. (Full story) Hutchison Whampoa stock is up 0.91 percent at HK$55.25, after the outsourcing deal for its Australian subsidiary. Bank of China Hong Kong is down 1.73 percent to HK$8.50, while retailer Esprit Holdings is up 0.69 percent to HK$14.60. Both stocks became part of the 33-stock Hang Seng as of Monday and had risen as fund managers adjust their holdings to include them. LG at heart of Seoul tradeIn South Korea, the Kospi is up 0.25 percent to 726.59, with trading heavy in LG Group member companies. A report suggested up to four fixed-line phone companies may merge under that umbrella to challenge industry leader KT Corp. But KT, a former monopoly, is also slightly ahead, up 0.8 percent to 52,900 won. LG is also forming a single holding company, boosting LG Electronics 1.96 percent to 49,450 won. Stablemate LG Life Sciences is topping the gains with a 7.78 percent leap to 22,850 won after it said it had found some cancer-causing genes. Steel maker Posco is up 1.20 percent to 126,000 won. But chipmaker Samsung Electronics is off 0.52 percent to 385,000 won, tracking U.S. chipmaking losses. Taiwan just below break-evenTaiwan's Taiex is down 0.22 percent to 4,636.32 despite gains in some techs. Flat-screen maker Au Optronics is up 4.35 percent to T$23.90, while Macronix is topping the volume with a 1.44 percent rise to T$14.10. China Development Financial Holding is down 5.26 percent to T$12.60 with Chairman Liu Tai-ying under investigation. Singapore's Straits Times index shows that it is down 3.55 percent to 1,342.15 at late morning, but exchange officials say the large fall is the result of a technical error. Some traders shorted the market as it appeared to move sharply lower, but the underlying stocks don't support the move. Chartered Semiconductor is topping the volume with a 2.63 percent slip to S$1.11. Bank OCBC is down 1.00 percent to S$9.90, while Singapore Airlines is off 0.93 percent to S$10.60.
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