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Topix higher as Asia steadies
(CNN) -- Asian stocks are steady at midday Thursday after a dip on Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei is just in the red, but the broader Topix is higher. South Korea is showing the biggest gain, with the Kospi up about 0.65 percent. The Nikkei 225 average is down just 0.03 percent to 9749.34 at the end of the morning session after climbing more than five percent in the previous four trading days to Wednesday's two-week high of 9752.75. The broader Topix index is 0.39 percent higher at 955.45, helped by gains for industrials and selected techs. Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan is up about half a percent and there are smaller gains for Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. New Zealand is down about 0.4 percent. The moves in Asia follow a down day on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrial average slipping 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ending virtually flat, off 0.02 percent. (Full story) A resurgence in bond yields raised concern that higher borrowing costs could choke off a U.S. economic recovery. But U.S. President George W. Bush defended his economic policy Wednesday, saying he was optimistic about job creation. (Full story) In Tokyo, big bank UFJ Holdings, which rose more than 9 percent Wednesday and 8 percent on Tuesday, is up another 2.6 percent to 273,000 yen -- a 2003 high -- after dipping in early trade. Mizuho Holdings is up about 1 percent and there are gains of 2 percent for MTFG and SMFG. Steelmakers JFE Holdings, Kobe Steel and some other industrial stocks are finding favor with investors, encouraged by this week's upbeat GDP data. (Full story) Automakers are also higher after a shaky start, with Toyota up about 1 percent and smaller rises for Honda and Nissan. In the tech sector, big exporter Sony is 1.1 percent ahead to 3670 yen, and NEC, Matsushita Electric Industrial and Toshiba are also higher. But there are falls for Fujitsu, Canon and Kyocera. The market's biggest stock, NTT DoCoMo, is up 0.35 percent to 288,000 yen. Kobe Steel is up 1.5 percent to 136 yen. JFE, Japan's second-largest steelmaker, is 0.44 percent higher at 2300 yen, while bigger rival Nippon Steel is 0.5 percent ahead to 199 yen. In Seoul, the Kospi is 0.65 percent higher at 717.68, with a gain of 1.7 percent to 419,500 won for market heavyweight Samsung Electronics. Big exporter Hyundai Motor is ahead 1 percent to 34,600 won, while SK Telecom is up slightly to 193,500 won. Leading bank Shinhan is down a third of a percent. Australia's S&P/ASX200 is 0.05 percent higher at 3159.8. Media group News Corp, which posted record earnings of $1.8 billion, is down 0.65 percent to A$12.31 after a runup earlier in the week. Leading retailer Coles Myer is up 2.6 percent to A$7.44 after posting a 6 percent lift in full-year sales. Resources giant BHP Billiton is 1.5 percent higher at A$10.30. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is up 0.15 percent to 10,317.33, with conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa unchanged at HK$51.25 and a slight gain for big bank HSBC. Singapore's Straits Times index is 0.31 percent higher at 1596.35, helped by a 2.5 percent gain for leading bank DBS. SingTel is unchanged at S$1.71. In Taiwan, the Taiex is 0.53 percent ahead to 5471.20, with some techs showing gains. AU Optronics is up 5 percent to T$42.80. Chip foundries TSMC and UMC are up 1.7 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. New Zealand's Top 50 is 0.42 percent lower at 2208.31, registering the region's biggest fall.
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