LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's main markets advanced Wednesday amid optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged when it delivers its monetary policy decision later in the day. Technology stocks slipped, mirroring declines for their counterparts on Nasdaq the previous day.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei average of 225 stocks rose 91.11 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 17,370.17, with department store operator Sogo and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone among the top gainers.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 282.65 points, or 1.75 percent, to 16,438.42 at the close, as China Telecom pulled the index higher for the third session.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index rose 24.72 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,061.16, with DBS Group and Singapore Press Holdings topping the list of gainers. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 23.8 points, or more than 0.7 percent, to 3,213.9, with financial and biotechnology stocks heading higher.
In the U.S. on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 38.53 points to 10,504.46, and the Nasdaq composite lost 53.16, or more than 1.3 percent, to 3,858.96, as the Federal Reserve began a two-day meeting to decide whether to raise interest rates.
In the currency market Wednesday, the yen weakened to ¥105.46 against the dollar from ¥105.27 in late trade in New York on Tuesday.
In Tokyo, department store operator Sogo surged 31 percent, the Nikkei's biggest gainer, after media reports that the state-run Deposit Insurance Corp. is close to buying loans that Shinsei Bank originally extended to the ailing store and will forgive part of the debt.
Analysts more optimistic
Fujikura, a manufacturer of optical fibers and cable, leapt 12.2 percent, extending Tuesday's gains after Commerz Securities raised its target price for the company's shares to ¥800 from ¥665 and maintained its "buy" rating.
Rival Furukawa Electric rose 3.9 percent.
Computer maker Fujitsu rose 0.9 percent after IBJ Securities raised its
target price to ¥5,000 from ¥4,000, saying Fujitsu was gaining recognition as a core stock in the electronics sector as it shifted its business focus from services to more electronic devices.
Oracle Corp Japan, a unit of U.S.-database software maker Oracle (ORCL: Research, Estimates), climbed more than 3 percent on a report in the Nihon Keizai newspaper that said the company might report a record unconsolidated pretax profit of ¥23 billion for the year to May 31.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone rose 2.1 percent, while its separately listed mobile-phone unit NTT DoCoMo lost 2.3 percent.
Internet investor Softbank Corp slumped 8 percent, falling for the fifth session, tracking the U.S. Nasdaq's fall. Softbank is heavily invested in several Internet-related stocks listed on the high-tech index.
Telecoms push ahead
In Hong Kong, China Telecom, soon to change its name to China Mobile (Hong Kong), jumped more than 5 percent to HK$71.75, continuing to enjoy support two days after it said it was in talks to buy seven mobile-phone networks in China. Rival Cable & Wireless HKT rose 1.7 percent, China Unicom leapt 2.7 percent and Hutchison Whampoa gained 1.7 percent.
Stone Electronics shed 6.1 percent and Legend Holdings fell 1.3 percent as technology stocks suffered in the wake of Tuesday's Nasdaq decline.
Most other markets in the region were in the black Wednesday, with the KLSE index in Kuala Lumpur rising almost 1 percent, Bangkok's composite SET index gaining 0.1 percent, and Jakarta's JSX up 1 percent. The Kospi index in Seoul jumped 1 percent while Manila's PHS Composite edged up 0.1 percent.
In Taipei, the Taiwan Weighted index slipped 0.7 percent. 
--from staff and wire reports
|
