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Asia heads higher on tech gains
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Asian markets are trading higher going into Monday afternoon, buoyed by Wall Street's gain last Friday and an easing of tensions over Iraq. Tech-sensitive markets Taiwan and South Korea are showing the region's best gains of more than 1 percent. Singapore and Hong Kong are also up strongly. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average is up 0.69 per cent to 8,420.47 at the lunch break, while the broader Topix index is showing a more modest rise of 0.16 per cent to 820.02. Japanese exporters such as Toyota are showing good gains, but the country's big banks are again lower. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group is down more than 6 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX200 is up 0.58 percent in early afternoon trade, while New Zealand's new Top 50 index has finished its first day just in the black, up 0.28 percent to 1,886.12. (Full story) Monday's strong showing in Asia follows Wall Street's performance on Friday, when the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 1.03 percent higher at 1,337.52 and the Dow Jones industrial average put on 0.08 percent to 7,891.08. (Full story) The U.S. currency is stronger, trading at 118.20 yen in Tokyo near midday, up from 117.73 yen at the close of trading Friday. In Tokyo, one of the biggest gains is for Internet investor Softbank, which is up 7.43 percent to 1,678 yen after confirming that it will sell part of its stake in Yahoo Japan to help fund the expansion of its broadband business Yahoo BB. (Full story) Banks down again
But major banks are down again on concerns about their capital-raising plans. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group, which is due to price its ordinary share offer this week, is down 6.49 percent to 490,000 yen and Mizuho Holdings is off 3.81 percent to 101,000 yen. UFJ Holdings is 2.88 percent lower at 135,000 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is down 3.62 percent to 266,000 yen. Toyota, Japan's biggest carmaker, is 2.16 percent higher to 2,835 yen, Nissan is up 1.01 percent to 896 yen and Honda is 0.69 percent firmer at 4,350 yen. Fuji Photo Film, the world's second-largest maker of photographic film, is up 2.13 percent at 3,830 yen. The market's biggest stock, mobile phone service NTT DoCoMo is unchanged at 223,000 yen, but parent NTT, along with KDDI and Japan Telecom, are higher. Some tech issues are up after U.S. chip giant Intel Corp rallied 3.4 percent last Friday. Ceramics and electronic parts maker Kyocera is up 0.81 percent to 6,260 yen and consumer electronics leader Sony is 0.22 percent higher to 4,500 yen. In Seoul, the Kospi is 1.25 percent higher at 582.62, led by a gain of almost 2 percent in market heavyweight Samsung Electronics to 285,000 won. Monday's share market gains follow an announcement from South Korea's Commerce Ministry that the country's trade deficit nearly quadrupled in February from a month earlier as imports soared on higher oil prices. Exports were dented also by a sluggish global semiconductor industry. (Full story) Big exporter Hyundai Motor is up 1.2 percent to 25,400 won, as is investor favorite SK Telecom, trading at 167,000 won. Rival KT Corp is more than 2 percent higher at 44,550 won. In Australia, big-cap stocks are leading the broader market higher. Media group News Corp is up 2.65 percent to A$10.46 and telecom leader Telstra is 2 percent higher at A$4.08. Among big banks, NAB is doing best with a gain of 1.7 percent to A$29.39. But troubled insurer and funds manager AMP is continuing to tumble, losing another 4 percent to A$6.72. It is now down 40 percent for the year and is barely a third of its share price a year ago. (Full story) Taiwan's Taiex is 1.63 percent higher at 4,504.60 on tech strength, with TSMC, the market's biggest stock and the world's biggest chip foundry, up 2.38 percent to T$43.00. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is 0.95 percent higher near midday, buoyed by a 1.2 percent gain for banking leader HSBC. The world's No. 2 bank by market capitalization will report earnings later Monday. Hong Kong's business activity showed a slight pickup last month, according to a new survey. (Full story) Singapore's Straits Times index is 0.92 percent higher at 1,285.63, with good gains for Singapore Airlines and SingTel. But bank DBS is down 1 percent to S$9.50.
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