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Asian stocks higher into afternoon
By Alex Frew McMillan
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian stocks are up on Tuesday, with Japan back in the black and most other markets ahead for a second day. The Nikkei average is up 0.81 percent to 9,248.95 heading into afternoon trade, having hit a new two-month high of 9,320 in the morning. The Topix is up 0.63 percent to 893.94 despite losses in bank stocks. Taiwan's Taiex is up more than 2 percent, by far the most dramatic move in either direction as it enjoys chip-stock gains. South Korea is up 0.75 percent, while Hong Kong and Singapore are both narrowly in the black. There are losses Down Under, with both Australia and New Zealand heading south by just over 0.5 percent. Markets were mixed on Wall Street overnight, with Nasdaq gaining 0.41 percent but the Dow Jones industrial average slipping 0.38 percent to 8,862.57. Techs back up in Tokyo
In Tokyo, most techs are back to their winning ways after a pause on Monday. NEC Corp. is up 3.3 percent to 532 yen, having lagged after setting a two-month high. Cell-phone operator NTT DoCoMo, Tokyo's largest listing, is up 4.1 percent to 8,350 yen on a strong day for telecoms. No. 2 KDDI is up 3.96 percent to 420,000 yen. Advertising agency Dentsu is again among the losers, down 0.53 percent to 374,000 yen, after competitor Hakuhodo confirmed it will team with two rivals to challenge for industry leadership. Bank stocks are drifting again, with UFJ Holdings down 2.42 percent to 121,000 yen. But Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is up 2.55 percent at 443,000 yen as the new holding company debuts. The yen is trading at 124.46 to the U.S. dollar, back off its one-month low of 125.05 set on Monday. Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa is playing down comments made during a speech in Sendai that the yen is excessively strong and should be trading at 150 to 160 to the dollar. "I didn't say it is desirable," Shiokawa said at a news conference. "I said the dollar at 150 to 160 yen would be appropriate if you calculate from Japan's purchasing power parity." That measure of comparing living standards in different countries sets the yen at 166, analysts say. Australia downAustralia's S&P/ASX 200 index is down 0.56 percent at 3,066.4 in early afternoon trade. News Corp. is pushing the index lower with a 0.92 percent fall to A$12.86, off a six-month high from Monday. Airline Qantas is off 3.18 percent at A$3.65 as the company ruled out job cuts if it succeeds in buying a larger stake in Air New Zealand. Cochlear, a big gainer on Monday, is down 3.42 percent to A$37.60 on Tuesday. BHP Billiton is up slightly, ahead 0.20 percent to A$10.27, after gains overnight in London. Hong Kong edges aheadIn Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is up 0.17 percent to 10,222.10, with the market shaking off disappointing manufacturing data out of the United States. Techs and telecoms are up, with mainland cellular operator China Mobile gaining 1.89 percent to HK$21.55 and rival China Unicom up 0.81 percent to HK$6.20. Fixed-line telecom PCCW is up 1.31 percent to HK$1.55. Oil producers are also moving forward, CNOOC ahead 0.52 percent to HK$9.60. But leading bank HSBC is just in the red, off 0.54 percent to HK$92.00. Seoul pushing forwardIn Seoul, the Kospi is up 0.85 percent to 736.49 in early afternoon, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics 1.68 percent higher to 393,500 won. Smaller rival Hynix Semiconductor is up 4.55 percent to 460 won. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, the largest electronic-parts maker in Korea, is up 1.68 percent to 55,700 won on a positive sales outlook. In Taiwan, the Taiex is up 2.09 percent to 4,781.14 after Nasdaq's gains the day before. But Taipei's advances are broadbased, with industrials, techs and banks all higher. Screenmaker Au Optronics is up 5.39 percent to T$25.40, second only in volume terms to Macronix. That chipmaker is putting on 1.71 percent to T$14.85. Formosa Plastic is 2.51 percent higher at T$44.90 and Chinatrust is ahead 2.75 percent to T$26.20. Singapore's Straits Times index is up 0.08 percent to 1,397.96 in late morning trade, with Datacraft, up 2.5 percent to S$0.815, and Chartered Semiconductor, up 1.79 percent to S$1.14, topping the volume.
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