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Japan leads Asia to shaky recovery
TOKYO, Japan -- Asian markets are finding some relief Wednesday afternoon from the relentless declines of the past few days, with Japan's Nikkei average up 0.81 percent at the midday break. The Nikkei has finished the morning session at 7926.05, up 63.62 points from the 20-year closing low of 7862.43 it reached Tuesday. The broader Topix, which has been at its lowest since 1984 this week, is 0.92 percent higher at 777.73. Singapore is back from a multi-year low with a gain of about 1 percent. Taiwan is showing a smaller gain, up 0.72 percent. Hong Kong is also slightly higher in late morning trade, up 0.24 percent. But Australia's market is continuing to plumb new four-year lows. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 is down 0.61 percent to 2706.5. New Zealand's Top 50 is also lower, down 0.27 percent to 1896.74. South Korea's volatile Kospi initally fell 1.2 percent, then made it into the black before easing again to be down about 0.35 percent at 530.64. Global equity markets have been pummelled this month by fears of an imminent war in Iraq. That, along with rising oil prices and a gloomy outlook for the world's biggest economies, has weighed heavily on investors' minds. European markets ended mixed on Tuesday, with London's FTSE coming off a seven-year low to finish 0.5 percent higher, but the Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich indices were all down. (Full story) In the United States, Wall Street sank again, the Dow Jones industrial average dipping to a five-month low of 7524.06, off 0.58 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.54 percent to 1271.47. (Full story) In Tokyo Wednesday, the market is looking to end a six-day losing streak. Key blue-chips Sony, Toyota and NTT DoCoMo are all higher. Sony is 1.47 percent firmer to 4140 yen after finishing at a 17-month low of 4080 yen Tuesday. The big banks, which have taken a severe beating this week on worries about their fragile capital base, are slightly higher. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is up 2.43 percent to 211,000 yen after plunging a massive 11.6 percent Tuesday to a record low of 206,000 yen. UFJ Holdings is up 0.79 percent to 127,000 yen and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group is 0.44 percent higher at 455,000 yen. Japan Airlines System, which slashed its earnings outlook Tuesday because of a slowdown in reservations stemming from security concerns, is 1.25 percent higher at 243 yen. (Full story) Rival All Nippon Airways is 0.85 percent higher at 236 yen. Some traders said the Nikkei was due for a rebound, Reuters reported. Others cited talk of government action to boost the market as being behind the rise. Nomura Holdings, Japan's top brokerage, rose 1.23 percent to 1,239 yen, up from a 13-month low. Computer giant NEC is up 2 percent to 406 after hitting a post-bubble low of 398 yen the previous day. NEC said Tuesday it would adopt a new corporate management structure from April 1 to promote the integration of its computer and network solution businesses. Hitachi is up 3 percent, and Fujitsu, Toshiba and Canon are also higher. South Korea lower
In Seoul, South Korea's Kospi sank 1.20 percent to 524.53 in the first hour of trading, before recovering a little to be a third of a percent down at 530.98. That is still a fresh 17-month low. The market's biggest stock, Samsung Electronics, is up 1 percent to 290,500 won. But SK Telecom, once an investor favorite, is down another 2.45 percent on concerns about the SK Group. The stock fell more than 12 percent yesterday after SK Group executives were indicted over accounting irregularities at an SK unit. (Full story) But big exporter Hyundai Motor is up 3.43 percent to 22,600 won. In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 index is down 0.61 percent to 2706.5 in early afternoon trade. That is a fresh four-year low. Telstra is down 1.7 percent to A$4.03 and News Corp is off 0.43 percent to A$9.35. Banking major CBA is 2.79 percent lower to A$23.32 while flagship carrier Qantas is unchanged at $A3.15. New Zealand's NZSE Top 50 indicator is 0.46 percent lower to 1893.28 near the close. Big-cap Telecom New Zealand is down more than 2 percent to NZ$4.27. In Singapore the Straits Times index is coming back from a four-year low and is up about 1 percent at 1231.04 near midday. DBS Group is 1.7 percent higher at S$9.05. Reuters contributed to this report.
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