|
Asia mixed, HK slumps
|
 |
July 25, 2000: 6:22 a.m. ET
Technology stocks dent markets; telecoms drag Hong Kong lower
|
LONDON (CNNfn) - Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday, with telecom and computer stocks tracking the declines their U.S. counterparts suffered Monday after two reports showed slowing rates of sales growth in the personal computer industry worldwide.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average of 225 stocks closed up 26.47 points, or 0.2 percent, at 16,573.59, rebounding from a loss earlier in the session, with gains for automakers offsetting declines in techs stocks.
 The Hang Seng in Hong Kong plunged 284.35 points, or 1.6 percent, to close at 17,375.34, as telecom stocks Hutchison Whampoa and China Mobile led the market lower.
Singapore's Straits Time index was little changed at 2,098.30, with gains for newspaper monopoly Singapore Press Holdings and banking stocks DBS Group and United Overseas Bank.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 23.3 points, or 0.7 percent, 3,282.21, as index heavyweight News Corp. tracked the previous day's decline in its American Depository Receipts. The international media company fell almost 4 percent.
In the U.S. on Monday, the Nasdaq composite index fell 107.10 points, or nearly 3 percent, to 3,981.10, dragged down by computer-related shares as investors lowered their expectations of future growth in PC sales. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 48.79 to 10,684.77.
In the currency market, the yen rose to ¥108.99 against the U.S. dollar from ¥108.73 in late trading in New York on Monday.
Techs retreat in Tokyo
In Tokyo, technology stocks fell sharply, with NEC, Japan's largest maker of computer chips, down 3.8 percent, Fujitsu, the country's No. 1 computer maker, shedding 3.2 percent, and consumer electronics titan Sony losing 0.4 percent.
Internet investor Softbank, which has big investments in several companies listed on the U.S. Nasdaq, slumped 4 percent
Specialty chip manufacturer Rohm fell 3.7 percent and semiconductor testing device maker Advantest dropped 2.4 percent.
Elmic Systems fell 16.4 percent from its initial public offering price of ¥2,200 on its first day of trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Mothers market for venture firms. Elmic Systems sells computer peripheral equipment.
Toyota Motor, Japan's biggest automaker, rose 3.1 percent after it announced it had developed technology to make diesel engine emissions cleaner by reducing the amount of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter in exhausts. Honda Motor rose 2.8 percent.
Sogo collapse jolts suppliers
Fallout from the collapse of department store operator Sogo was still being felt across the clothing and lingerie sector. Renown fell 4.7 percent after the apparel maker said it might be unable to recover ¥1.46 billion ($14 million) in credits from Sogo. Lingerie maker Fukusuke lost 2.8 percent after it said more than ¥500 million in credits were at risk.
In Hong Kong, telecom to real estate conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa fell 4.2 percent. The company agreed to sell its 22 percent stake in U.S. mobile-phone operator VoiceStream (VSTR: Research, Estimates) to Deutsche Telekom (DT: Research, Estimates) for $10.86 billion in cash and stock, generating a potential profit of more than $9 billion.
China Mobile, the country's biggest cellphone operator and the Hang Seng index's most heavily weighted stock, dropped 3.3 percent.
 Bucking the slide in tech stocks, ASM Pacific Technology jumped 7 percent after saying net interim profit rose sixfold to HK$520.52 million ($67 million). Computer-chip maker Legend Holdings slipped 2.3 percent.
In smaller markets, the SET composite index in Bangkok fell 1 percent, Jakarta's JSX slipped 1.4 percent and Taiwan's Weighted index dropped 2 percent.
In Malaysia, the KLSE slipped 0.4 percent, Manila's PHS Composite rose 0.3 percent and South Korea's Kospi was unchanged at 737.64. 
--from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
