|
Asia mixed, Japan drops
|
 |
August 21, 2000: 5:31 a.m. ET
Telecom stocks fall as Japan loses 1.5%; banks, property stocks lift HK
|
LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's main markets closed in mixed mood on Monday ahead of a meeting on Tuesday at which the Federal Reserve is expected to leave U.S. interest rates unchanged.
The Nikkei average of 225 stocks fell 240.31 points, or 1.5 percent, to close at 16,040.18, with telecom stocks leading declines, even after a report showed the latest signs of a Japanese economic recovery.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 61.48 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,501.48, led by interest-rate-sensitive bank and property stocks.
South Korea's Kospi index fell 0.8 percent, led by index heavyweight SK Telecom, the country's largest cellular phone company, while the technology laden Kosdaq index fell 2.1 percent.
The Straits Times index in Singapore rose 0.7 percent to 2,200.69, lifted by a 4.9 percent rise for Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing after brokerage Merrill Lynch on Friday advised investors to buy semiconductor stocks.
Tokyo investors reluctant to buy
In Tokyo Monday, the Trade Ministry said Japan's economy continued its recovery in the April-June quarter, as a bigger-than-expected rise in industrial activity in June produced a sixth consecutive quarter of growth.
The all-industries index, watched by many economists as a guide to gross domestic product, rose 1.4 percent in June from the previous month.
Investors' attention, however, was focused on the anticipated U.S. interest-rate decision.
"The consensus is for no rate hike, but we still want to see whether (U.S. policymakers) say inflationary risks have receded or hint that rate hikes aren't over for this year," said Tetsuya Ishijima, chief strategist at Okasan Securities.
 Japanese mobile-phone giant NTT DoCoMo, the Tokyo market's largest issue by capitalization, fell 3.7 percent as the Nikkei was marked by losses in major telecommunication stocks.
DoCoMo's parent, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, tumbled 4.8 percent.
Advantest, a manufacturer of semiconductor testing devices, fell 4.6 percent, ending a four-day winning streak that boosted it by nearly 17 percent.
Honda Motor slumped 3.7 percent after a U.S.-based executive at the company said the automaker was concerned about the image of its tire supplier Firestone because of a massive tire recall earlier this month. Bridgestone, which owns the Firestone brand, fell 4 percent.
Semiconductor and electronics shares such as Toshiba and NEC rose on expectations of robust earnings reports.
Toshiba rose 2.9 percent after the Nihon Keizai Shimbun financial daily reported over the weekend it expected a group net profit of ¥130 billion in the current business year, up ¥30 billion from an earlier estimate.
NEC shares rose 1.5 percent after the newspaper said it was also expected to top its earnings projections.
Banks and property stocks gain
In Hong Kong, gains among bank and property stocks offset losses for telecom shares. HSBC Holdings rose 1.4 percent, Hang Seng Bank gained 0.9 percent and Bank of East Asia added 0.5 percent.
Property company New World Development jumped 3.2 percent and Henderson Land rose 0.5 percent.
China Unicom and China Mobile, the Chinese mainland's two leading wireless telecom firms, moved lower, pressured by lingering bearishness in European telecom stocks. China Unicom shares declined 0.8 and China Mobile also lost 0.8 percent.
 "I think there was some minor selling pressure on telecom stocks as the market continued to see a weaker European telecom sector due to the high cost of Germany's third-generation mobile-phone licenses," said Andrew To, head of research at Tai Fook Securities.
Australian's S&P/ASX 200 index slipped 5.3 points, or almost 0.2 percent, to 3338.9, with telecom and media stocks leading declines. Telecom carrier Telstra fell almost 0.8 percent, while media conglomerate News Corp. also declined 0.8 percent.
Building materials company James Hardie dropped 4.7 percent after the company warned its markets were deteriorating, even though it posted a 45 percent increase in net profit for the three months ended June 30.
In other markets, Taiwan's Weighted index rose 0.6 percent, Thailand's composite SET index fell 1.1 percent, Jakarta's JSX advanced 0.6 percent, and Manila's PHS Composite slipped 0.9 percent. 
--from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
