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Asia ends first day on a high
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian markets ended the first day's trading for 2003 with modest gains Thursday, as investors went bargain-hunting among tech issues. Taiwan topped the gains with a rise of 1.63 percent, while South Korea notched up its first rise in six days, putting on 1.21 percent. Australia rose 0.7 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed up just under half a percent. Singapore was the odd one out among those markets trading Thursday, ending down a third of a percent on bank selling. Japanese markets are closed until Monday January 6, for the extended New Year's break. Traders return to their desks on Friday in New Zealand. Taiwan's strong gains Thursday came after it registered the worst performance of major Asian markets last year, with a drop of 19.8 percent. Only the developing markets of China's B shares, down around a third in 2002, and Vietnam, off 22 percent, performed worse. Pakistan was the best performer of the year, with stocks more than doubling in that small market. (Full story) News Corp. drives gains in Sydney
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index finished 0.68 percent higher at 3,027.6, boosted by gains for blue chips in thin trade. Media group News Corp., the largest stock in Sydney, put on 1.92 percent to A$11.70, while the No. 2 listing, Telstra Corp., rose 0.23 percent to A$4.42. Big banks were higher, as were resources leaders BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. Gold stocks also gained after the metal hit a six-month high of $353.75 an ounce last month. Lihir Gold closed 2.78 percent higher at A$1.48, and Newcrest Mining rose 1.94 percent to A$7.34. The day's biggest gainer was Peptide Technology, which soared 53.6 percent to A$1.69 on heavy volume after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it to market an antibody to fight rheumatoid arthritis. Telecom plays up in Hong KongIn Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index ended 0.47 percent at 9,365.52. The largest listing, HSBC, drove the gains, closing up 0.88 percent to HK$86.00, with subsidiary Hang Seng adding 0.30 percent to HK$83.25.
They were among the first banks to offer online banking in mainland China when they began their services there this week. (Full story) Oil giant Sinopec climbed 3.82 percent to HK$1.35 after it said it will cut 10,000 jobs this year, to curb costs. (Full story) Sun Hung Kai Properties lost 0.43 to close at HK$46.00 after it said this week it will buy BT Group's 21 percent stake in cell-phone company SmarTone. That gives it a 51 percent stake in the carrier. Telecom plays in general performed strongly, with PCCW up 4.88 percent to HK$1.29. Mainland mobile plays were also up, China Mobile adding 0.81 percent to HK$18.70 and China Unicom rising 0.94 percent to HK$5.35. Shares in Henderson Land and Henderson Investment were suspended, as Henderson Land said shareholders had rejected a plan to take the investment subsidiary private. Henderson Land was forced to raise its offer 3 percent to HK$7.60 a share in November after minority shareholders resisted the move. Banks up in TaiwanIn Taiwan, the Taiex put on 1.63 percent to 4,524.87, despite a lackluster showing by the market's two biggest stocks, chip foundries TSMC and UMC. TSMC dipped 0.23 percent to T$42.50 and UMC was flat at T$21.10. Screenmaker Au Optronics closed up 3.92 percent to T$21.20. Bank stocks also moved ahead, with Chinatrust Financial up 4.95 percent to T$29.70, Chang Hwa Bank 3 percent higher at T$17.10 and Hua Nan Financial up 6.72 percent to T$27.00. China-oriented plays gained after President Chen Shui-bian called for closer ties with the mainland. China Motor jumped 6.3 percent to T$67.50 and China Airlines rose 5 percent to T$15.60. Samsung gives Korea a liftIn South Korea, the Kospi snapped a run of five down days to close 1.21 percent higher at 635.17. Samsung Electronics, the largest listing, put on 2.39 percent to 322,000 won.
Hyundai Motor jumped 3.06 percent to 28,600 won after it forecast a sales increase of 10 percent in 2003. Subsidiary Kia Motors also rose on expected sales gains. (Full story) Hyundai Heavy Industries put on 1.84 percent to 19,400 won, after it said it won a $745 million plant contract in Angola. Hynix Semiconductor jumped 14.3 percent to 320 won. Steelmaker Posco closed unchanged at 118,000 won. SK Telecom and KT Corp. fell, losing 1.75 percent and 1.58 percent respectively to 225,000 won and 49,900 won. Singapore lags on bank declinesSingapore's Straits Times index ended down 0.38 percent at 1,335.98, driven lower by declines in big bank stocks. UOB closed down 1.69 percent at S$11.60, while OCBC ended off 1.04 percent to S$9.55. Singapore stocks got little boost from news it escaped recession at the end of last year. A 0.1 percent annualized rise in gross domestic product in the fourth quarter helped the Lion City to 2.2 percent growth in 2002. (Full story) Takeover target NatSteel finished the day steady at S$2.06 after hotelier Ong Beng Seng extended his S$2.06 a share offer by a week, to January 10. Chartered Semiconductor topped the volume as it set a new low of S$0.70 during the day. But the chip foundry rebounded to end up 1.4 percent to S$0.72.
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