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Nikkei holds onto early gains

sony
Sony and other technology stocks moved higher on the Tokyo exchange Thursday  


TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Tokyo's stock market was higher by midday Thursday after gains on Wall Street and another series of U.S. air strikes on Afghanistan.

Technology stocks led the way, with NEC up more than 7.8 percent and consumer electronics giant Sony up almost 6 percent.

But bank shares slipped, with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking down 4.7 percent to 706 yen and Mizuo Holdings losing 13,000 yen or 3.4 percent to 367,000 yen.

By midday, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 average was up 1.62 percent or 161.04 points to 10,125.92. The broader, capital weighted TOPIX was up 1.32 percent or 13.59 points at 1,044.76.

Australia, Korea, HK all higher

Markets in Australia, Taiwan and Korea were also higher at the break. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up about 200 points or 2 percent to 10,505 in late morning trade.

New Zealand opened lower but edged into the black by midday, after a survey by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research showed business confidence fell sharply in the September quarter.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 46.6 points or 1.5 percent to 3183.9. Australian resources stocks such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and WMC were all higher, as was U.S-based media giant News Corp, up 4.1 percent to A$13.27.

News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch addressed the annual general meeting Thursday.

In Seoul, the Kospi was up about 2.74 percent or 13.78 points to 517.24. Chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor, along with market heavyweights SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics, made good gains.

Wall Street's solid performance on Wednesday gave direction to Tokyo and other Asian markets.

"I think the gains (in New York) were mostly due to short-covering on battered issues," Katsuhiko Kodama, head of equities at Toyo Securities, told Reuters news agency.

Banks still facing difficult times

mizuho
Mizuho Holdings and other banks eased Thursday after opening higher.  

"That would be happening here as high-techs and banks were sold heavily in the past few days."

Bank shares extended recent losses, led by a 4.72 percent fall to 706 yen in Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, the world's second-largest banking group by assets.

SMBC was about to announce revised earnings forecast for the six months to September 30.

"There's nothing encouraging about the banking sector," said Kazunori Jinnai, equities general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC. "The government seems to be at a loss in regard to solving the nation's bad debt woes."

The Bank of Japan is holding a two-day policy setting meeting from Thursday.

The market consensus is that the central bank will maintain the policy set three weeks ago and aimed at flooding the banking system with over two trillion yen in extra funds through its market operations.

Reuters contributed to this report.



 
 
 
 



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