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News > International
Asia ends broadly higher
August 15, 2000: 6:06 a.m. ET

HK rises 2.8% behind China Mobile as Straits Times rises to 15-week high
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asian markets ended broadly higher Tuesday, as telecom, property and bank stocks drove Hong Kong's benchmark index while Tokyo shares rose behind the computer chip sector in the wake of an upbeat performance on Wall Street a day earlier.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 144.38 points, or 0.9 percent, to 16,298.29 in light trade. The index was bolstered in part by a strong U.S. session Monday in which the Nasdaq composite, Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 index all rose more than 1 percent.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong jumped 465.47 points, or 2.8 percent, to 17,463.53, with index heavyweight China Mobile, the mainland's leading wireless telecom company, jumping 5 percent and global bank HSBC rallying  2.3 percent. graphic

The Singapore Straits Times added 26.30 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,153.44, its highest close in 15 weeks. Chartered Semiconductor was a leading gainer, closing up 6 percent.

In other leading Pacific Rim markets, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.25 percent to 3,323.1, the Taiwan Weighted index in Taipei fell fractionally and the KOSPI index in Seoul rose 1.5 percent.

In the currency market, the dollar was little change against the Japanese yen. The U.S. currency fetched ¥109.51, compared with ¥109.48 earlier in the session in Tokyo.

Japan's online ad firms get a boost


In Tokyo, online advertising companies were up sharply after advertising company Dentsu Inc. was quoted in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily as saying that Japan's online advertising market is expected to top ¥100 billion ($913 million) in 2002, up from ¥24.1 billion in 1999. ValueClick Japan soared 17.4 percent, up by its daily limit, while Cyber Agent rose 4.7 percent.

Among computer chip stocks, Fuji Electronics rose 11.4 percent on Nasdaq Japan after the semiconductor firm upwardly revised its net profit forecast for the year ending next February to ¥1.68 billion, from ¥1.22 billion.

Electronics powerhouse Sony jumped 3.5 percent after announcing it will use a chip that will extend battery life by 50 percent in its remodeled Vaio C1 notebook personal computer.

Advantest jumped 8.8 percent after Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the semiconductor testing device maker is likely to double its profit to a record ¥45 billion in the year ending next March. In April, it had forecast net profit of ¥35 billion.

Leading Japanese telephone company NTT fell 1.6 percent, getting little support from news that a U.S. panel reviewing a planned acquisition of Internet service provider Verio by NTT Communications has recommended the U.S. government not block the deal.

In Hong Kong's property sector, shares of Henderson Land rallied 3.7 percent while New World Development blasted up 11 percent. The Hang Seng property sector index rose 3.9 percent.

Internet company Renren Media shed 1.8 percent, but pared an earlier 9.6 percent drop, after saying late Monday that it laid off 102 employees, or 37 percent of its staff, to cut costs. The cutbacks are the latest in a spate of  layoffs in Hong Kong's Web sector. Renren is backed by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and U.S. venture capital firm J.H. Whitney.

News Corp. shares rose 4.7 percent in Sydney a day after the company agreed to buy U.S.-based TV station owner Chris-Craft Industries for $5.35 billion.

Elsewhere in Asia, Jakarta's JSX index fell 0.5 percent, Manila's PHS composite rose 0.6 percent, the KLSE composite in Malaysia added 0.8 percent, while the Bangkok SET advanced 1.3 percent. Back to top

-- from staff and wire reports

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