Asia watch

By RAY HEATH
Updated:

 

JAPANESE stocks breached their levels of late August as strength among banks and telecoms issues overcame nervousness surrounding a raft of upcoming results from the electronics giants. In early trade the Nikkei 225 broke through 11,000, although it slipped back to close at 10,880.1 for a net gain of 77.95, or 0.7%.

The market was held back by apprehension ahead of results due from Sony, Matsushita and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest after the market closes. Bank shares benefited from Wednesday's go-ahead in Parliament for the reconstruction of their debts, and leader Mizuho rose almost 2%. In the chip sector, Tokyo Electronic was up by 4% after the strong overnight performance among US technology stocks that took the Nasdaq index up by 1.6%.

Hong Kong's market was closed for a holiday. Taiwan stocks were firm and the Weighted Average index held on to early gains which took it up to 4009.63 points, a rise 22.96 that broke the 4000 resistance level for the first time since mid-September. Technology stocks led the advance after Nasdaq's bounce sent bears rushing to cover their short positions. Taiwan Semiconductor extended Wednesday's limit-up gain of 7% with a rise of nearly 1%.

Bank stocks provided a little energy in an otherwise dull South Korean market, where the Kospi index edged up 1.37 points to 542.86. Defensive qualities and the prospect of good earnings brought average gains of close to 5% among leading financial houses. Technology stocks failed to react to the overnight action in the US, and Samsung sank by almost 2% after recent gains on better-than-expected third-quarter results.

Earnings jitters sidelined investors in Singapore, where the Straits Times index drooped 5.0 oints to 1412.2, led down by the sinking shares in Singapore Airlines. Profits of the national carrier to be unveiled on Friday are expected to show a fall of close to 80% because of fewer passengers and dearer fuel. Investors are also looking for signs of the impact of disruption caused by the 11 September terrorist attacks on the US. The overall market fall was cushioned by stronger technology stocks which were chased up after Nasdaq's overnight advance.

Pleasant surprises on profits lifted Australian banks. ANZ reached a new peak of A$17.76 with a gain of seven cents after fullyear profits came in above most analysts' expectations. Commonwealth Bank rose by almost 2% after revealing that second-half profits were looking strong. News Corporation fell by more than 3% on concerns that its offer for US satellite group DirecTV was in danger of being trumped by rival Echostar. The All Ordinaries index closed 72.6 points up at 3254.7, despite some continuing strength in resource stocks.

Malaysian stocks were held back by a study warning that the country was heading for recession because of the decline in exports this year. In light trading the Kuala Lumpur Composite edged up 0.1 points to 616.5. In Thailand, stocks were also going nowhere as investors hung back, leaving the SET index at 283.89, down 0.17. A weakening Indonesian currency failed to hurt stocks in Jakarta and the Composite index rose 3.71 points to 389.67.

• 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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