Asia watch

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

Cable & Wireless Optus today finalised a joint venture deal with Virgin Group to introduce Virgin-branded mobile phones into Australia.

A former Optus executive will head the venture, to be called Virgin Mobile Australia. The move follows an alliance with SingTel, announced last month, which will launch Virgin Mobile in Singapore, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia.

Shares in Optus, which is 52.5% owned by the British parent, were up five cents to A$4.94 today amid broadly firmer Australian stocks, the All Ordinaries adding 14 points to 3110.3.

Receding fears of more US interest rate rises after benign economic data helped spur American markets last Friday, and the Asia-Pacific region joined in the celebration today.

In Tokyo, hi-tech shares received a boost from Nasdaq's Friday gains and helped lead the Nikkei 225 sharply higher, 401.73 to 17,201.79.

Heading the list of gainers was computer games maker Sega, the shares up nearly 19% after the company announced a tie-up with Motorola to develop software for new-generation mobile phones.

The alliance is a welcome initiative for Sega, which recently plunged to its third consecutive full-year loss.

Among other active stocks, NTT Data spiked 8.5%, Sony added 6.3% and Softbank put on 10.7% as investors cheered the news that the company had resolved difficulties with the government over buying the nationalised Nippon Credit Bank.

Mobiles group NTT Docomo was up 6% after confirming that it was talking to SK Telecom of Korea about a roaming deal.

Hong Kong stocks also shared in the regional rally, the blue-chip Hang Seng index up 586.24 at 15,870.34 by the mid-session break, slightly down from the intraclosing up day high after a late wave of profit-taking.

Denials that tycoon Li Ka-shing was in hospital with heart problems helped demand for shares in his companies, with Hutchison Whampoa and property affiliate Cheung Kong both higher. Cable & Wireless HKT, which abandoned its planned digital TV venture with Rupert Murdoch's Star TV late on Friday, put on 30 cents to HK$18.30 as the company said it would press ahead for a pay-TV licence.

HKT is now expected to lean heavily on new owner Pacific Century Cyberworks for content.

Also moving higher was Next Media, headed by colourful local entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, which gained on news that the company would buy the operator of the group's websites, including the web version of the racy Apple Daily. Next shares jumped 20%.

Bank group HSBC had one of its best trading days in weeks, the shares up 3.5% to HK$90.

Elsewhere, the biggest move came once again in South Korea as rallying finance counters combined with the regional rebound in hi-techs.

The Kospi, which bounced around 15% last week after spending most of the year in the doldrums, was up 4.6%, or 35.11 points, to 795.80. The tech-heavy over-thecounter market, Kosdaq, jumped 5.4%.

Singapore's Straits Times was also sharply higher, up 64.25 to 1974.65, while gains for the embattled rupiah helped Jakarta's Composite put on 7.27 to 451.71.

Thailand's SET added 10.75 to 350.03, and Taiwan's Composite was up 30.94 to 8966.58, but Malaysia's Composite went against the trend and was off 1.80 at 889.45.

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