| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Asian markets bounce back
TOKYO, Japan -- Japan's stock market has opened sharply higher Friday, taking its cue from the strong performances on Wall Street and Europe, and a share support plan unveiled by the Japanese government. The Nikkei 225 average, which set a fresh 20-year low of 7862.43 on Tuesday, is up almost 1.5 percent to 7989.25 in early trade. The broader Topix is up 1.53 percent at 790.44. Markets in Australia and South Korea are following suit, with early gains of 2 percent and 2.4 percent respectively. Japanese blue chips are leading the way, Honda putting on 3.27 percent to 4100 yen and Toyota up 1.66 percent to 2750 yen. Big exporters are welcoming a rise in the dollar to a two-week high against the yen of 118.50. Sony is up 3.65 percent to 4260 yen. Other consumer and tech-related stocks are also sharply higher, with Matsushita Electric Industrial up 5 percent to 1094 yen and Kyocera 3.8 percent higher at 6030 yen. Toshiba, Fujitsu, NEC and Hitachi are among the big gainers. The market's biggest stock, NTT DoCoMo, is up 4.76 percent to 221,000 yen. Support planJapanese stocks are being given a boost by the support plan unveiled late Thursday by the Financial Services Agency (FSA). The plan makes it easier for companies to buy back their own shares and the FSA says it will discourage short-selling as part of the package. (Full story) The plan is also designed to help the big Japanese banks deal with huge losses on stock holdings that they will have to make clear at the end of the financial year on March 31. Market-boosting measures are a feature of Japanese markets at this time of year. The Nikkei average, which hit a one-year high of 12,081 in late May last year, has fallen relentlessly since then. On Thursday it closed at 7,868.56, down 0.94 percent on the day and just six points away from Tuesday's 20-year closing low. U.S., Europe rallyU.S. and European markets rallied strongly on Thursday after a run of losses that saw Europe reach six-year lows. In London the FTSE jumped more than 6 percent on hopes a war in Iraq could be delayed. In the U.S. the Dow Jones industrial average put on 3.57 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 4.81 percent. (Full story) In Australia, where the S&P/ASX200 reached a fresh four-year low on Thursday, the market is bouncing back in Friday trade. Media giant News Corp, the market's biggest stock, is up 5 percent to A$10.23 on the better U.S. performance. Big resources groups BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are up 4.38 percent and 3.16 percent respectively. Banks are also higher, as is widely held telco Telstra, up 2.25 percent to A$4.09. In South Korea, the Kospi is 2.38 percent higher at 544.29, with big-cap Samsung Electronics up more than 4 percent to 302,000 won. Leading exporter Hyundai Motor is 2.17 percent higher at 23,500 won and steelmaker Posco is up 4.17 percent to 100,000 won. New Zealand's Top 50 is up about 1 percent to 1893.76 in early afternoon trade. Reuters contributed to this report.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
