Asia higher on tech rally
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NEC and other tech-related stocks are higher in Tokyo Thursday.
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(CNN) -- Asian markets are higher at midday Wednesday, with good gains in Japan after two days of decline. Technology stocks are leading the way.
South Korea is doing best in the region, with the Kospi up 1.2 percent to a 20-month high.
Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are also up strongly, but Australia and New Zealand are in the red.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock average is up 0.79 percent to 10,843.00 at the end of the morning session. It had fallen about 0.6 percent in the previous two days.
The broader Topix is up 0.68 percent to 1058.73.
Some Japanese tech-related stocks are higher on the back of a rally in the United States, where the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed Wednesday at a 29-month high.
But the Dow Jones industrial average finished just in the red, down about 0.1 percent. (Full story)
Tokyo Electron, Japan's biggest chip-making equipment manufacturer, is up 3 percent to 8360 yen, and Advantest is 2.8 percent higher to 8700 yen.
Big banks are also firmer, led by a 2.8 percent rise for Mizuho to 328,000 yen. There are gains of around 2 percent each for UFJ, SMFG and MTFG.
There is a mixed picture in the automotive sector, with Toyota and Honda both up after their falls on Wednesday. But Nissan is down again, off another 2.1 percent to 1218 yen.
The dollar is trading at 106.13 yen, near three-year lows. That continuing firmness for the yen and reluctance among investors to trade actively ahead of a three-day weekend in Japan is expected to limit gains. Tokyo's market will be closed Monday for a national holiday.
Among exporters of consumer electronics, Sony is down 0.26 percent to 3800 yen and Canon is off 0.2 percent to 5040 yen.
Gainers include NEC, up 2 percent to 817 yen, and Kyocera, up 3.6 percent to 7670 yen.
Mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo is 2 percent higher to 245,000 yen.
In Seoul, the Kospi is 1.22 percent higher to 837.03.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is 2.6 percent higher to 477,000 won -- close to its record high of 484,500 won reached last November.
SK Telecom is up sharply, 7.2 percent higher to 234,000 won.
Big exporter Hyundai Motor is up 1.35 percent to 52,700 won.
Australia's S&P/ASX200 is down 0.09 percent, with another fall for resources leader BHP Billiton on lower commodity prices and the continued strength of the Australian dollar.
BHP is down 1.9 percent to A$11.95 and Rio Tinto is off 1.8 percent to A$37.03.
The Australian dollar is trading at 76.65 U.S. cents, after crossing the 77-cent mark Wednesday to touch its highest since May 1997.
Taiwan's Taiex is 0.5 percent higher to 6174.38, with chip foundry TSMC up 0.76 percent and rival UMC up 0.64 percent.
Singapore's Straits Times index is 0.48 percent ahead to 1844.64.
SingTel, which plunged 5 percent Wednesday after major shareholder Temasek gave details of its selldown, is up 0.5 percent to S$1.96.
New Zealand's Top 50 is 0.41 percent down to 2465.06. Telecom is down about 1 percent to NZ$5.40.
