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SARS hopes buoy Asian stocks
SYDNEY, Australia -- Asia stock markets were mainly trading positively Tuesday after a solid rally on Wall St and hints the outbreak of the SARS virus may be easing. An apparent softening in tensions between the United States and North Korea may also be helping investor sentiment in the region. However, the dominant regional market, Tokyo -- which has been hit in recent days by a shock earnings report by market leader Sony Corp -- was closed for a national holiday. It reopens on Wednesday. On Monday, Japanese stocks plumbed fresh 20-year in dismay over Sony's earnings -- the electronic giant's shares plunged 15 percent, helping the Nikkei average to drop 1.2 percent to 7,607.88. (Sony slump) "Foreign buying, alongside eased concerns about North Korea and SARS, is providing psychological support," Kim Jung-whan, an analyst at LG Investment & Securities in South Korea, said according to Reuters. On Tuesday, Shares in airlines hard hit by the SARS outbreak were among top gainers. Australia's Qantas, Korean Air, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways and Taiwan's EVA Airways were all up 5 to 7 percent. In the U.S. the Dow Jones industrial average closed 165.26 points, or 2 percent, firmer at 8471.61 while the tech-laden Nasdaq composite added 27.70 to 1462.24, a 1.93 percent gain. (Wall St. report) South Korea's Kospi index was the best major performer in the region up around 3 percent at midday. A blowout in South Korea's current account deficit failed to dampen spirits with the lower post Iraq-war oil prices expected to see the current account return to surplus in May. Oil prices have been falling over fears of ample supplies after an OPEC production agreement offered little in the way of real cuts in output. U.S. light crude slid three quarters of a percent to $25.30 a barrel, around its lowest since November, Reuters reports. Of Korean stocks, Samsung Electric was 4.21 percent firmer at 297,000 won while Korean Air was 6.72 percent stronger at 11,100 won. Australia's S&P/ASX200 was 1.18 percent stronger in morning trading at 3009.5 with media major News Corp leading the way, up 3.16 percent to A$11.43 shortly after noon local time. The widely held telco Telstra had firmed nearly 1 percent to A$4.18 while global resources player BHP Billiton gained 2.27 percent to A$9.03. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng marker is trading nearly 2 percent firmer at 8600.11 while Singapore Straits Times index is 3 percent stronger at 1278.26. In Taipei, the Taiwan index has strengthened also, up 1.65 percent to 4207.75 and in New Zealand the NZSE Top50 added 0.90 percent to 1958.19.
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