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Asia mixed, Tokyo up
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December 12, 2000: 5:42 a.m. ET
Tech shares rally in Japan; property shares slide in Hong Kong, Singapore
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asian markets ended mixed Tuesday, with technology shares lifting Tokyo while Hong Kong's main index gave up an earlier gain to drift into the red.
 In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 0.7 percent at 15,114.64, extending Monday's 2.2 percent rise. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed down 0.5 percent at 15,329.60, and Singapore's Straits Times index fell 1 percent to 1,983.71.
In currency dealings, the U.S. dollar rose against the Japanese yen to ¥111.08 from ¥110.75 in New York a day earlier.
In the U.S. Monday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index surged 3.4 percent to 3,015.10, while the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.1 percent to 10,725.80.
Techs lead Tokyo higher
Nasdaq's rise lent support to Japanese high-tech stocks, sending the broader Tokyo market higher.
"U.S. stocks are heading higher into the new year, with the Fed moving toward cutting interest rates," said Jun Nishizaki, chief portfolio manager at Nissay Asset Management. "That should encourage a recovery in Tokyo stocks, especially since the consensus is that they've been oversold already."
Tokyo Electron, a maker of chip manufacturing equipment, jumped 4.8 percent, adding to Monday's 3.7 percent rise, while chip and computer maker NEC rose 2.1 percent, extending a 6.1 percent gain the previous day. Sanyo Electric rose 3.5 percent.
Japan Telecom jumped 19.2 percent, the limit for a one-day share-price increase. It was the stock's second consecutive leap after media reports said British mobile-phone operator Vodafone Group would buy a stake in the company. Several reports said Vodafone plans to take a 15 percent stake in Japan's third-largest telephone company for $2.4 billion. Japan Telecom declined to comment.
There were gains for large companies that have a relatively low proportions of their shares in public hands, such as 46.7 percent state-owned Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (NTT), which rose 3.3 percent. Such stocks advanced for a second day as investors welcomed the later-than-expected date for a change to the way the Morgan Stanley Capital International allocates weightings to stocks in its global indexes.
Starting late next year, a company's weighting will be proportional to the percentage its of stock freely available for investors, excluding shares held by strategic investors such as governments, corporations, controlling shareholders and management. The change could cut the index weighting for companies such as NTT.
But the Nikkei's rally above 15,000 provided a chance for investors to sell shares that had rallied, especially in the high-tech sector. Electronics titan Sony eased 0.9 percent.
 Internet investor Softbank fell 4.9 percent after U.S. brokerage Robertson Stephens cut its recommendation on shares of U.S. Internet portal Yahoo (YHOO: Research, Estimates), in which Softbank has a 22.6 percent stake.
Caution ahead of the "tankan" corporate sentiment survey to be released on Wednesday curbed further buying, analysts said.
"A further rise (in the Nikkei) would need support from good fundamental news, such as corporate earnings or consumer spending," said Kunihiro Hatae, general manager at Tokai Tokyo Securities' equities trading division.
Investors have been shifting part of their high-tech holdings to "old-economy" shares recently, and that trend is likely to continue, Hatae added.
Property shares tumble in Hong Kong
Hong Kong stocks fell in afternoon trading as investors dumped property shares that had profited from a week-long rally, fueled by hopes of a U.S. interest-rate cut in the coming months.
Property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties lost 2.7 percent while conglomerate Swire Pacific's 'A' shares fell 2.8 percent.
Telecom-to-properties conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa ended down 1 percent. Internet investment and telecom firm Pacific Century Cyberworks shed 3.4 percent and SmarTone Telecommunications plunged 5.4 percent.
Cathay Pacific Airways fell 1.8 percent.
Singaporean property shares were also lower. HK Land Holdings fell 4.1 percent and CapitaLand lost 2.7 percent.
The city-state's biggest electronics maker Venture Manufacturing lost 3.1 percent while electronics contractor Omni Industries tumbled 5 percent.
In other markets, the KOSPI index in Seoul ended down 2.1 percent at 543.08, with index heavyweight Samsung Electronics dropping 2.2 percent.
Leading South Korean mobile-phone operator SK Telecom shed 3.5 percent while state-run Korea Telecom tumbled 4.5 percent. Both firms rose a day earlier on expectations they would be awarded third-generation mobile service licenses on Friday.
Taipei's Taiwan Weighted index rose 1.8 percent to close at 5,380.09, boosted by gains in the electronics sector. Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 2.8 percent.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 ended little changed at 3,313.2 with investors awaiting news about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
Bangkok's SET index and Jakarta's JSX index, and the KLSE Composite in Kuala Lumpur each lost 1.5 percent. Manila's PHS Composite ended up 0.3 percent.
--from staff and wire reports 
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