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Asian markets rally to close higher
By Alex Frew McMillan
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian markets rallied on Friday afternoon, giving bullish investors a spring in their step as they head into the weekend. Japan's Nikkei average came back from losses of more than half a percent in morning trade to close up, gaining 0.23 percent to 8,406.88. The broader Topix index lost ground, but it still came back in late trade to end only 0.05 percent lower at 822.46. Most markets had shown slight losses early in the day. But Hong Kong staged an impressive rally to close up three-quarters of a percent. Australia, which had been the only main index in the black, ended up a similar amount. New Zealand ended flat, on merger speculation. A sizeable rallyTaiwan clawed back from losses to close up more than 1 percent. South Korea turned around to end narrowly in the black.
The market got little bounce from the election of Roh Moo-hyun as president, though. The liberal will serve a five-year term, pledging to continue current president Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine Policy" with North Korea. (Full story) Singapore is trading more than 1 percent lower as it goes into the close. The turnaround in Asia was impressive after a down day for U.S. stocks. The likelihood of war with Iraq rattled investors on Thursday, despite solid economic numbers. (Full story) That pushed the Dow Jones industrial average down 0.98 percent to 8,364.80. Techs fared better, leaving Nasdaq down 0.54 percent. (U.S. roundup) Low Nikkei tempts some buyersTokyo's Nikkei had looked set to test its low close of 8,303 dating from November. But it climbed back on gains in big-cap stocks. Honda Motor rose 1.15 percent to 4,400 yen, while cell-phone No. 2 KDDI climbed 1.86 percent to 383,000 yen. Pension funds were thought to be buying into the market again, as they did on Thursday. Japan Tobacco climbed 1.52 percent to 803,000 yen. But most of the morning's losers remained depressed. The largest listing, cell phone provider NTT DoCoMo, closed off 2.24 percent to 218,000 yen, while parent NTT was off 1.79 percent to 439,000 yen. Investors showed little reaction to the Koizumi administration's draft budget for next fiscal year, which calls for a record level of debt issuance. (Full story) Currency hitting exportersJapan released a new forecast predicting growth for next year, but at a slower rate. The prime minister said Japan needs to put up with two or three years of slower growth. (Full story)
The yen surged against the U.S. dollar in New York trade on Thursday, and held onto those gains in the Asian trading day Friday. It stands at 120.71 to the greenback in early European trade. That dented exporters, with Sony Corp. down 0.6 percent at 4,990 yen, while Toyota Motor fell 0.65 percent to 3,070 yen. Camera maker Cannon was the most active stock, down 3.18 percent to 4,260 yen. The dollar has weakened against currencies such as the yen, euro and Korean won as tension with Iraq increases. Tokyo's markets are closed for the Emperor's birthday on Monday, so Japanese traders were also paring positions ahead of a long weekend. Australia holds onto riseIn Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index finished up 0.75 percent at 3,011.4, holding onto most of its early rise. Energy-related stocks were up as oil promises to rise if there's a war, and banks were also higher. But gold took a breather, now trading at $343 an ounce. Miner and oil producer BHP Billiton climbed 1.60 percent to A$9.85. Industry peer Rio Tinto rose 1.00 percent to A$34.00. Retailer Coles Myer added 0.31 percent to A$6.38 amid heavy volume after it said it expects "satisfactory" Christmas sales and reiterated its profit forecast. Telecom provider Telstra Corp. topped the volume with a 1.59 percent gain to A$4.47, though News Corp., the largest listing in Sydney, fell 0.91 percent to A$11.93 after Wall Street's slip. The NAB, Australia's largest bank, locked in a 1.60 percent lift to A$32.14 after it told investors it would stick by its earnings forecasts. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac and ANZ all also closed higher. New Zealand's Top 40 index closed almost flat, down 0.01 percent to 1,930.64, with Telecom New Zealand off 1.08 percent to NZ$4.58. Australasian insurer and fund manager Tower Ltd. rocketed ahead 16.67 percent to NZ$2.10 amid speculation it was being taken over. (Full story) New figures show New Zealand's economy grew 1 percent in the third quarter, down from the 1.7 percent rate the previous three months. Hang Seng turns around on big capsIn Hong Kong, telecoms helped the Hang Seng index rally from negative territory to end up 0.74 percent at 9,628.69. Telecom PCCW raced ahead 6.61 percent to HK$1.29, and China Mobile turned around to end up 2.09 percent at HK$19.50. The mainland's biggest cell-phone service said total subscribers grew 1.77 percent in November, to 115.6 million customers. Rival China Unicom added 1.8 percent to HK$5.60. China is the biggest mobile market in the world, now with 200.3 million mobile users and growing at 2.3 percent a month. Bank stock HSBC rallied to end at flat at HK$87.50 but has been hurt this week as a war threatens to disrupt global economic growth. Oil producer CNOOC dropped 0.48 percent to HK$10.45 but added 7.1 percent for the week. Korea gets no election boostIn South Korea, the Kospi traded level all day, ending up a scant 0.03 percent to 709.44, with the election result having little effect.
LG Electronics drove ahead 2.34 percent to 48,200 won. Roh's only son works for the company, a tie investors figured may help business. Stock in shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries sank 7.7 percent to 23,900 won after its main shareholder Chung Mong-joon came out against winning candidate Roh. Chung, who oversaw South Korea's hugely successful soccer World Cup, withdrew his support one day before the election. Hynix Semiconductor fell 14.5 percent to 325 won, with investors figuring reform-minded Roh may be more likely to let the chipmaker fail. Techs rally in TaiwanTaiwan's Taiex notched the biggest rally to tally a 1.02 percent rise to 4,595.67. Local plays were strong again and tech stocks staged a turnaround. Chip foundry UMC rose 3.18 percent to T$22.70, while chipmakers Nanya Technologies and Winbond Electronics both rose. Screenmaker Au Optronics turned around heavy losses to end level at T$19.90. China Steel saw the heaviest trading again, up 2.56 percent to T$20.00. Taiwan-focused stocks have pushed ahead this month as funds do some year-end window dressing. Hua Nan Financial closed up 2.45 percent to T$25.10, though banks gave way late in the day and Chang Hwa Bank lost 0.58 percent to T$17.10. Singapore off the most in AsiaIn Singapore, the Straits Times index closed down 1.27 percent at 1,337.45, the sharpest losses in Asia. Banks, a pillar of strength this month, fell leaving DBS Group 1.75 percent lower at S$11.20, UOB off 2.54 percent to S$11.50 and OCBC down 0.52 percent to S$9.60. Chip contractor Chartered Semiconductor set a new record low of S$0.765, down 2.55 percent. Takeover target NatSteel was steady at S$2.07 after Ong Beng Seng's 98 Holdings said it had increased its stake in its takeover target to 36.7 percent. (Full story)
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