Asia Watch

By RAY HEATH
Updated:

 

ASIAN technology stocks took the lead from their United States counterparts today to post solid gains, although weakness in the Dow cast a shadow over the broader picture.

Trade, particularly in Hong Kong, was buoyed by the easing of Sino-US tensions after China agreed to release the 24 American air crew held in China's Hainan province.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closed up 177.51 points at 13,352.44, off a high of 13,452.60. Volume was an estimated 431m shares. Investors were encouraged by a rally in US technology stocks for a third day in a row and fast-growing optimism that the Tokyo market may have hit a floor for now, which was reflected in a rise in long-term bond yields, according to analysts.

Advantest, a maker of semiconductor testing devices, gained 7.09% to 13,600 yen, off an earlier high of 14,050 yen, helping underpin the technology-sensitive index. Hong Kong stocks are likely to see profit-taking pressure ahead of the long Easter holiday, which starts on Friday. Counters jumped slightly over 2% in early trade, helped by robust gains in banking shares.

The Hang Seng index was trading at 12989.47 points, up 283.04. Shares of Dao Heng Bank and its parent Guoco group took the lead, rising 50.93% to HK$56.75 and 58.18% to HK$43.50 respectively after Singapore's DBS Group Holdings agreed to buy Dao Heng in a deal that values the bank at up to HK$45 billion (£4bn).

Shares of Hong Kong's biggest bank, HSBC Holdings, the largest stock on the Hang Seng, rose 1.6% to HK$95.50.

Singapore's Straits Times index dropped back 20.52 to 1595.68, depressed by losses in heavyweight DBS Group and other banks after DBS unveiled its takeover of Dao Heng Bank.

DBS, South-East Asia's largest bank, sank nearly 10% to a low of S$13.80 in early trading on concerns that it was over-paying for the Hong Kong bank. Later the shares recovered slightly to stand at S$14.20.

South Korea's benchmark stock index was firmer by midday, led by index-heavy tech shares such as Samsung Electronics following the Nasdaq's advances overnight. The Korea Composite index, the Kospi, was up 1.32%, or 6.68 points, at 514.21, off a morning high of 517.67.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest computer memory chip-maker, extended earlier gains on strong buying from foreign investors. It rose 7.53% at 200,000 won.

Taiwan's weighted index advanced 65.47 points to 5533.22, off a high of 5539.80, on turnover of 46.66 billion Taiwan dollars. Analysts said that against mixed perceptions of the semiconductor industry, investors seemed to share a consensus that a fundamental recovery is unlikely to materialise until the last quarter of the year at the soonest.

Thailand's SET index produced a net gain of 6.96 to 289.33. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite remained fairly flat with a fall of 1.17 to 365.98, while Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite ended down 1.41 at 566.47.

Australia's All Ordinaries was up 17.6 points at 3216.1.

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

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