Asia watch

By RAY HEATH
Updated:

 

JAPANESE exporters surged in Tokyo as investors ignored a downgrading of the government's credit rating, and the Nikkei 225 bounded up 367.479 points to 11,064.3, taking it back above its levels before the 11 September terrorist attacks on the US.

Shares in the country's biggest banks were also sharply higher ahead of a round of interim results due later that are expected to provide an insight into long-awaited debt restructuring. The fall of the yen to its lowest for more than three months, and Friday's release of US retail sales figures that were better than expected pumped up Sony and Canon in the electronics sector, while top - performing carmaker was Honda, gaining more than 5%. Nissan was close behind with a gain of 3%.

A sharp rally in banking stocks was led by Mizuho Holdings, which jumped almost 5%. The largest lender in the world - and one of the most affected by bad debts - is expected to announce a major reshuffle at the top. Reports in Japan at the weekend said the bank's two senior executive officers are among those who will be standing down.

The cuts will not stop at the top, however, as Mizuho is reported to be preparing to announce it will shed thousands of staff. The industry-wide employee purge is expected to make 20,000 bank workers jobless by early next year.

A Thanksgiving shopping spree in the US benefited Hong Kong stocks in early trading, with the Hang Seng index ending ahead 69.6 at 11,392. Investors are becoming nervous that the recent rally from mid-September lows is running ahead of itself as the China story appears to be fading.

Reports that a major mainland think tank is asking the Beijing government to cut interest rates to prevent a slide in the economy, which is officially due to expand by about 7% this year, added to concerns that Asia's new engine of growth is spluttering.

There was no holding back investors in South Korean stocks, who took the Kospi up a further 3% to its highest in 14 months. Publicly-quoted broking houses led the rise in the index of 20.49 points to 665.67. They rose by up to 15% as buyers figured that the 30% rise in the market this year had to be good for commission income.

Nasdaq's advance of about 1.5% on Friday proved a tonic for Taiwan. Its chipmakers and computer makers powered a climb of 89.24 points in the index to 4608.32, more than 30% above its lows of mid-September.

Singapore's computer-linked sector was also inspired by Nasdaq, while major banking house DBS improved by more than 2% as it is expected to be a winner in a forthcoming shuffle of the Morgan Stanley stock indices. The Straits Times index was up 17.4 points at 1475.6.

Mixed sentiment in Sydney left the All Ordinaries index ahead 77.9 points at 3348.5. Woodside Petroleum slipped after reports that talks on a possible takeover by BHP Billiton had been called off.

South-East Asia's smaller markets all eased, Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite off 0.6 at 638.93, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index down 0.92 points to 381.78, and Thailand's SET index 2.22 points lower at 294.55.

• Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed on the site.

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