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Asia lifts on Iraq news
(CNN) -- Japanese stocks are higher at midday Wednesday as investors digest Wall Street's gains and news that Saddam Hussein's two sons were killed by U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Most other Asian markets are also up, with the exception of South Korea and Hong Kong. The Nikkei 225 average is up 1.02 percent to 9583.15 after ending Tuesday down 0.44 percent at 9485.97, a three-week low. The broader Topix index is about 1 percent higher to 937.07. Steelmakers are among the biggest gainers, with Nippon Steel up 6 percent and JFE almost 8 percent higher. Taiwan is the best performer in the region, with the Taiex up about 1.4 percent to 5333.05 on the strength of the tech rally in the United States. Markets in Australia, Singapore and New Zealand are also higher, but South Korea is giving back some of Tuesday's gains. The Kospi is down 0.3 percent to 697.63. Hong Kong is slightly in the red. In Tokyo, tech-related stocks such as Advantest and Tokyo Electron are firming. Big banks and automakers are among the blue-chips on the rise, with Nissan up 1.5 percent to 1185 yen and Honda up 0.85 percent. UFJ is doing best of the banks with a 3.6 percent rise to 230,000 yen. There are also gains among consumer electronics stocks, with Sony up half a percent, NEC about 1.5 percent ahead and Toshiba up 3.6 percent to 485 yen. The market's biggest stock, mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo is flat at 265,000 yen. Among industrials, apart from the big gains for steelmakers, Kawasaki Heavy is up 3.4 percent to 122 yen. The moves in Asia come after Wall Street made solid gains on Tuesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq putting on almost 1.5 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average rising about 0.7 percent. (Full story) Shares of Internet retailer Amazon.com surged in after-hours trading after posting earnings. In Seoul, there are falls of 1 percent for market heavyweight Samsung Electronics and 1.5 percent for big exporter Hyundai Motor. But the most striking change is the 8 percent fall for SK Telecom to 192,500 won, following news that it was buying SK Corp's 2.7 percent stake in steelmaker POSCO. POSCO, which put on 3 percent Tuesday after announcing a share buyback, is up another 1.5 percent to 136,000 won. (Full story) In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 is about 0.4 percent higher to 3079.8. Market leader News Corp is 1.2 percent higher to A$11.72, benefiting from the gains in its main advertising market, the United States. BHP Billiton is up 1.2 percent to A$9.36. Big banks are also higher, but retailers Coles and Woolworths are in the red. In Taiwan, tech heavyweight TSMC is up 1.8 percent to T$57.50 and rival chip foundry UMC is 2 percent ahead to T$25.00. Leading IT brand Acer is up 6 percent to T$50.50. Singapore's Straits Times index is half a percent higher to 1558.07, with gains of about 1 percent for Singapore Airlines and leading bank DBS. SingTel is up 0.6 percent to S$1.62. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is relatively flat, down 0.1 percent to 9999.75 as the city braces for a typhoon. HSBC and Hutchison Whampoa are unchanged, while PCCW is up 1 percent to HK$4.40. New Zealand's Top 50 is 0.6 percent higher to 2144.01. The market's biggest stock, Telecom NZ, is up 0.4 percent to NZ$5.17.
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