Asia begins careful recovery
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Softening demand for Nintendo games machines has forced the company to revise its revenue down 10 percent for 2004.
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TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Tokyo stocks opened narrowly mixed Friday, as investors waited on key quarterly earnings reports from blue chips such as Honda Motor and a stronger yen continued to dampen the market mood.
The Nikkei 225 average was up 0.48 percent at 10,831.15 after it slipped 0.67 percent in the previous session -- its fourth straight day of decline.
The Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.02 percent at 1,050.35.
Shares in tech giants Canon, Fujitsu and NEC were all slightly down, even though they posted strong profits Thursday, driven by demand for flat-screen TVs, digital cameras and other gadgets.
Nintendo was down 8.57 percent at 10,240 yen, a day after the video game maker cut its full-year profit estimate by 10 percent, hurt by a strong yen and weak demand for its GameCube console and Game Boy Advance handheld game machine.
The dollar is trading at 105.94 yen in Tokyo Friday.
The South Korean Kospi Index was higher by 0.47 percent to stand at 857.45.
Earlier its Finance Ministry release figures showing the domestic economy is bouncing back quickly.(See full story)
Attention in Hong Kong will be on China's No. 2 television and cellphone maker, TCL Group. It said Friday a new joint venture with French electronics maker Thomson SA was worth an estimated 450 million euros ($558.5 million).
The venture, first announced in November, will create the world's largest television maker.
TCL-Thomson Electronics would be 67 percent owned by TCL Group's Hong Kong-listed unit, TCL International Holdings, and the rest would be held by Thomson, the company said in a statement.
Shares in TCL International last closed at HK$3.525 Wednesday. They were suspended Thursday pending an announcement.
A rebound is evident in Australia, where the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is up 0.55 percent at 3282.4.
Bellwether resource stocks BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto came back after declines. BHP is up 0.44 percent to A$11.30 while Rio Tinto is 0.65 percent higher at A$35.60.
The New Zealand Top 50 Index dropped 0.98 percent by early afternoon to stand at 2461.53.
The move came on a day when Air New Zealand managing director Ralph Morris revealed Friday that 200 institutional investors bought 7.8 per cent of stock in one day when long-term shareholder BIL International offloaded its shares Thursday.
Trading in the stock on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges was suspended Thursday to allow the disposal of BIL's 229 million shares, which went at NZ42c share, a 14 percent discount on its closing price the previous night.
In the United States Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.40 per cent to 10,510.29, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.44 per cent to 2068.23. The S&P 500 gained 5.63 points to 1134.11.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
