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Markets struggle to break shackles
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Tokyo's Nikkei 225 has closed at 8,714.05, up 0.16 percent from Thursday. Japanese tech stocks such as Tokyo Electron and Advantest are sharply weaker, but carmakers and most of the big banks are up. Other markets in the region are also mixed, with South Korea continuing its decline and Taiwan in the red. Australia lost 0.18 percent while New Zealand closed 0.13 percent higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 1.22 per cent to 9445.26 at close. Investors in Tokyo turned cautious after falls on Wall Street and weaker-than-expected Japanese output data for November. But an improved Japanese jobless rate of 5.3 percent surprised analysts. (Full story) In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.18 percent lower Thursday at 8,432.61, while the Nasdaq fell 0.33 percent to 1,367.89. (Full story) Big banks mixed
Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, put on 0.63 percent to 3,170 yen. Mitsubishi Motors was also up, but Nissan and Honda were slightly in the red. Isuzu Motors is unchanged at 41 yen. Among the big banks, Mizuho Holdings was down 1.8 percent to 109,000 yen. But UFJ Holdings was up 0.83 percent at 121,000 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui was up a similar amount to 374,000 yen. The market's biggest listing, mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo, was 1.36 percent higher at 223,000 yen. Leading exporter Sony was down 0.8 percent to 5,060 yen. Bridgestone Corp was off 3.82 percent to 1,561 yen after a newspaper report that Japan's biggest tiremaker may suffer an 11 percent fall in group current profit for the year to December 2003. One of the day's best gainers is utility Tepco, up 3.19 percent to 2,265 yen Data released before the opening showed Japan's industrial production fell 2.2 percent in November from a month earlier, worse than a median forecast of a 0.4 percent fall in a Reuters survey of 15 economists and the third straight month of decline. (Full story) In Seoul, the Kospi was down 2.23% at close to 656.92, continuing its steady decline to a six-week low. The market's biggest stock, Samsung Electronics, is down 0.44 percent at 338,000 won. Hyundai Motor is down about 1 percent to 30,400 won. Shinhan Financial Group, named Thursday as the Korean government's preferred bidder for its 80 percent stake in Chohung Bank, is 3.96 percent lower at 13,350 won. Chohung is down 4.7 percent to 4,480 won. Investors are worried that Shinhan may be paying too much to buy Chohung. (Full story) Australia's S&P/ASX200 finished 0.18 percent lower at 3,027.2. Media group News Corp lost 1.34 percent to A$11.80. Big-cap telco Telstra was 0.22 percent lower at A$4.44 and most of the big four banks were also slightly easier. But Newcrest Mining and Lihir Gold, up 1.56 percent and 2.82 percent respectively, benefited from a rise in the price of gold. BHP Billiton was another gainer, up 0.39 percent to A$10.18. In New Zealand, the NZSE Top 40 closed 0.13 percent higher at 1,949.22. The market's biggest stock, Telecom NZ, fell 1.3 percent to NZ$4.55. UMC confirms dealTaiwan's Taiex was relatively flat, down 0.44 percent to 4,547.32. The market's two biggest stocks, chip foundries TSMC and UMC, are both in the red, down 1.09 percent to T$45.50 and 2.61 percent to T$22.40 respectively. UMC has confirmed it is buying a stake in rival chipmaker SiS. (Full story). In Hong Kong, bank HSBC is flat at HK$86.50. Most other bluechips are slightly easier, with PCCW off 1.52 percent to HK$1.30 and China Mobile down a similar amount to HK$19.25. In Singapore, DBS, UOB and SingTel are all unchanged in a quiet market.
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