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Asia on the rise as techs take off

Markets in Asia are higher Tuesday as the region prepares for the two World Cup matches featuring Japan and South Korea
Markets in Asia are higher Tuesday as the region prepares for the two World Cup matches featuring Japan and South Korea  


TOKYO, Japan -- Asian markets are surging higher heading into Tuesday afternoon, with Japan rebounding from Monday's heavy falls after a strong performance on Wall Street.

Technology issues are in demand, fired up by a 3.2 percent gain on the Nasdaq composite index overnight.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average is up 171.55 points or 1.61 percent at 10,835.66 at midday, erasing about two-thirds of Monday's steep decline.

The broader capital-weighted Topix, which lost 2.7 percent Monday in its worst one-day fall this year, gained 1.53 percent to 1041.37.

In Seoul, the Kospi is up about 1.5 percent to 821.11.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is up 1.2 percent, Taiwan's Taiex is up about 1 percent and in Australia the S&P/ASX200 is 10.3 points or a third of a percent higher at 3310.1.

New Zealand near two-year high

New Zealand is continuing to gain, putting on 1.13 percent to 2162.5. At one point Tuesday morning it touched 2166.44, its highest level since August 2000.

In late morning trade, Singapore's Straits Times index is exactly 1 percent higher at 1613.81.

In tandem with Nasdaq's surge, the Dow Jones industrial average put on 2.25 percent to 9687.42.

"The timing of New York's rebound looks just right," Kazunori Jinnai, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC's equity department, told Reuters news agency.

Among Japanese tech stocks, Toshiba, Japan's biggest chipmaker, added 3.33 percent to 497 yen. Other chipmakers Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC are also higher.

Automaker Nissan put on 4.3 percent to 890 yen while market frontrunner Toyota jumped 3.6 percent to 3190 yen.

Consumer electronics leader Sony is up 1.9 percent to 6540 yen and rival Matsushita Electric Industrial gained 2.85 percent to 1662 yen.

Among telcos, mobile phone leader NTT DoCoMo is doing best, up 2.76 percent to 298,000 yen. Japan Telecom and KDDI are also higher.

Banks picking up

Reuters said investors were returning to Japanese banks and brokerages on news that Morgan Stanley had upgraded the weighting on Japan in its model portfolio while reducing U.S. equities.

"I think we can manage to make up the value of yesterday's steep falls," said Tatsuyuki Kawasaki, director of Kaneyama Securities' equities trading division.

"But there is nothing convincing about the U.S. economy behind the New York gains yesterday, so it's too early to be optimistic."

Banking leader Mizuho Holdings, which reportedly will punish some staff after a computer glitch earlier this year, is up about a third of a percent to 287,000 yen.

Monday's big loser, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, is up 1.5 percent to 615 yen and MTFG has added 1.74 percent to 875,000 yen. But UFJ Holdings is just into the red, down 0.32 percent to 307,000 yen.

In Seoul, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is up more than 3 percent to 370,000 won.

But its smaller rival, troubled chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor is off 3 percent to 320 won and touched a record low of 315 won earlier in the day.

Leading bank Kookmin Bank is up 2.17 percent to 61,300 won.

News, Telstra higher

In Australia, big stocks News Corp, Telstra and BHP Billiton are all stronger. But the country's biggest bank, National Australia Bank, is down about half a percent to A$35.96.

Rio Tinto is up almost 1 percent to A$35.25. Despite a ratings downgrade by Moody's, SingTel managed a small gain.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is up about 1.2 percent near midday. Bluechip bank HSBC is almost 2 percent higher at HK$91.00. China Mobile and China Unicom are also higher.

Property leaders Sun Hung Kai Properties and Henderson Land are also higher, as is conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.

But a record jobless rate of 7.4 percent may weigh on investor confidence in Hong Kong.

Japan takes on Turkey in the second round of the World Cup at 3.30 p.m.Tokyo time after the market closes at 3 p.m., while co-host South Korea tackles Italy later in the evening.



 
 
 
 



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