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Japan stays in red, Asia higher
TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese stocks remain in the red at midday Friday, following the U.S. market's weaker performance Thursday on poor economic data. But other Asian stocks are up. The SARS disease outbreak in Asia and its impact on travel and tourism continues to weigh on investor confidence. But reports that U.S. troops now control Baghdad's international airport are helping to offset that. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average is down 0.28 percent to 7995.55 at the end of the morning session, with tech-related stocks showing weakness. The broader Topix is down 0.26 percent to 791.63. Markets in South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand are all higher, but most moves are muted. The U.S. dollar is trading at about 119.71 yen in Tokyo at midday Friday. Gold is at a four-month low of $323.10 and oil prices are steady. On Thursday, European markets got a boost from insurance companies and the ECB holding interest rates steady. ( Full story). But Wall Street's rally took a pause, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 0.54 percent to 8240.38. The Nasdaq composite was flat, down just 0.01 percent to 1396.58. (Full report) There were poor numbers on U.S. jobless claims and activity in the services sector, suggesting continued weakness in the world's biggest economy. But the International Monetary Fund said Thursday in its global outlook that the risk of the U.S. falling into recession was down to 15 percent. (Full story) In Tokyo, the big banks initially recovered from the massive falls seen on Thursday, when Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group both fell to record lows. Mizuho put on more than 6 percent and SMFG was up 4 percent in early trade. But they eased as the session wore on, to be up 0.55 percent to 73,100 yen and 1.16 percent to 175,000 yen at the break. Airlines JAL and ANA are higher, as are carmakers Mazda and Mitsubishi. But Toyota, Nissan and Honda are in the red, with Honda down 2.7 percent. Telecom giant NTT is off 1 percent and its mobile phone subsidiary NTT DoCoMo, the market's biggest stock, is down 0.86 percent to 230,000 yen. Big consumer electronics exporter Sony is off almost 2 percent to 4080 yen. Tech-related stocks Hitachi and NEC are lower. South Korea upIn Seoul, the Kospi is almost 1 percent higher at 550.68. Leading automaker Hyundai Motor is up 4.74 percent to 24,300 won and big chipmaker Samsung Electronics up 0.18 percent to 279,500 won. Mobile telephone company SK Telecom is up 1.83 percent to 167,000 won and big banks Kookmin and Shinhan are also higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is about 0.6 percent higher to 8700.70 near midday. Banking leader HSBC is up 0.3 percent to HK$82.25. China Mobile is up about 1 percent and PCCW is flat at HK$4.45. Kerry Properties is one of the biggest gainers, up 4 percent to HK$6.55. Taiwan's Taiex is the region's best performer, up 1.4 percent to 4419.78. Tech stocks are showing good gains, with rises for chip foundries TSMC and UMC and screenmaker AU Optronics, up 3 percent to T$20.50. Singapore's Straits Times index is just in the black, up 0.08 percent to 1303.60 near midday. Singapore Airlines is up 1.1 percent to S$9.10, but SingTel is down 0.7 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX200 is about 0.2 percent higher at 2914.3. News Corp, which jumped on Thursday after reports it now had a clear run to bid for U.S. satellite broadcaster DirecTV, is down 1.5 percent to A$11.22. Blue chips BHP Billiton, NAB and Qantas are all modestly lower. Widely held stock Telstra is up half a percent to A$4.11. New Zealand's Top 50 is 0.11 percent higher at 1933.67 near the close. Air New Zealand and Telecom NZ are both unchanged. Reuters contributed to this report.
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