Tokyo, other Asian markets on the rise


Mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo was among the gainers on Tuesday

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo led other Asian markets higher by midday Tuesday, with Japanese blue-chips Sony, Toyota Motor and NTT DoCoMo rising.

Computer and chipmakers Toshiba, Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC also were higher, bolstered by a weaker yen and a strong performance by their U.S. technology peers.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average rose 0.8 percent or 84 points to 10,649.59 by the close of the morning session, after earlier hitting 10,768.16.

The broader capital-weighted TOPIX index added 0.41 percent or 4.43 points to 1,077.41.

Other markets in the region also stayed higher, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index back above 10,000 in late morning trade.

Australia up about 1 percent

Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up about 1 percent to 3211.07.4 by midday. Resources groups BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Woodside all rose.

In Seoul, the Kospi was up 1.6 percent or 8.43 points to 537.14, with Samsung Electronics and and SK Telecom among the gainers.

New Zealand's Top 40 put on about 0.28 percent to 1895.88. Trans-Tasman brewer Lion Nathan eased after it won control of Australian premium winemaker Petaluma.

Taiwan and Singapore also rose.

In the U.S. on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.88 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index rose 2.20 percent and the Philadelphia semiconductor index put on 5.45 percent.

"We look for techs to hold firm today, with sentiment bolstered by the Nasdaq climb. Autos will lure buyers on the yen's fall," Masaru Kazama, head of equities at Nissan Securities, told Reuters news agency.

Sony, chipmakers to the fore


Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan, has seen his company's share price rise

Consumer electronics giant Sony, which will release half-year earnings figures on Thursday, rose 1.4 percent to 5070 yen by midday. It gets about 30 percent of its sales in the U.S.

PC and chipmaker Fujitsu Ltd, which is due to announce results on Wednesday, put on 0.4 percent to 1025 yen.

Tokyo Electron put on 5.96 percent to 5,330 yen. The maker of chip-making equipment accounted for 16 percent of the tech-sensitive Nikkei's net point gain.

Leading carmaker Toyota Motor Corp rose 0.66 percent to 3050 yen, while No. 2 Nissan was up 3.5 percent to 590 yen and third-ranked Honda gained 1.9 percent to 4310 yen.

The advance in the auto sector came after the yen fell about one percent offshore against the dollar, reaching a two-month low. A weaker yen boosts exporters' profits when repatriated into the local currency.

In contrast, audio and video equipment maker JVC fell 3.98 percent to 482 yen after the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily said Tuesday the firm is likely to post a group net loss of 30 billion yen ($247.8 million) in the year to March 2002 against an earlier forecast for a profit of 3.5 billion.

Reuters contributed to this report.