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Tokyo thanks telecom stocks
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February 7, 2001: 5:16 a.m. ET
Telecom firms enjoy rebound; sour earnings for Cisco hit tech stocks
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LONDON (CNN) - Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday, with NTT DoCoMo to the fore, continuing its recent revival.
NTT DoCoMo, the world's second-largest mobile phone company, jumped 5.1 percent. On Monday the company priced the sale of 400,000 shares at ¥2.066 million raising $7.1 billion for its international expansion plans.
The Nikkei 225 average climbed 96.16 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 13,366.01, halting a four-day slide. Shares in DoCoMo's parent Nippon Telegraph and Telephone soared 6.3 percent, recovering for a second day from a 14 percent, 11-session, losing streak that ended on Tuesday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 136.23 points, or 0.9 percent, to end the session at 16,049.47, led by telecom and internet company Pacific Century CyberWorks and China Mobile, the mainland's biggest mobile phone operator.
The Straits Times index in Singapore slipped 0.3 percent to 1,942.65. Technology stocks were under pressure after weaker-than-expected earnings from Cisco Systems (CSCO: Research, Estimates), the world's largest computer network equipment maker.
Independent research firm Net-Research.com said in its daily note that Venture Manufacturing and electronics company Gul Technologies had substantial exposure to Cisco as a manufacturing customer. Venture dropped almost 4 percent, Gul lost 3.3 percent and Datacraft, which is supplied by Cisco, fell 5 percent.
The Kospi index in Seoul fell 1.8 percent, while the Taiwan Weighted declined 2.7 percent after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the most-heavily weighted stock in the index, fell because of a disappointing 2001 outlook. Taiwan Semiconductor plunged 7 percent.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4 percent to 3,312.1, on concerns more profit warnings are on their way from U.S. companies. News Corp, Rupert Murdoch's media giant, is close to finalizing a deal to take control of the largest U.S. satellite television provider DirecTV to create a $70 billion global network, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
Australia's second largest telecom operator Cable & Wireless Optus rose 2.8 percent. The company said on Wednesday there was a high level of interest in the sale of the group, with indicative offers due this week.
In Tokyo, chipmaker were generally weaker after Toshiba cut its profit forecast for the business year to March, amid declining memory chip prices and slowing PC sales growth in the U.S. economy. Toshiba slipped 0.6 percent, rival NEC Corp dropped 1.8 percent and Hitachi declined 1.8 percent.
Auto stocks drove the index higher. Toyota Motor, Japan's biggest, gained 1 percent, Honda Motor climbed 3.9 percent and Mazda Motor rose 3.2 percent.
Banking stocks rose for the first time in six days. Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest bank by assets, climbed 1.6 percent, Tokai Bank added 1.1 percent and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi rose almost 1 percent.
Investors have been concerned that falling share prices will harm banks' balance sheets ahead of the fiscal year-end in March. Japanese banks and large companies often unload shares in each other to cosmetically dress up their accounts.
In Hong Kong, shares of Internet and telecom company Pacific Century CyberWorks climbed 1.1 percent on speculation that the company is in talks with various buyers, including China Telecom, for Cable and Wireless' 7 percent stake in the company.
Hutchison Whampoa, the ports-to-telecom conglomerate, rose 1.5 percent on a report that it has raised its stake in Italian third-generation mobile unit
Andala to 78.3 percent from 51 percent. China Mobile, the biggest mobile phone operator in China, added 1.6 percent.
Property stocks climbed on talk that various developers are considering raising selling prices for apartments which would translate to higher earnings.
New World Development rose 0.8 percent after investment bank Salomon Smith Barney said the sale of its Regent Hotel and the merger of its telecommunications assets is scheduled for completion in April.
In other markets, Manila's PHS composite index slipped 0.3 percent, JSX index in Jakarta slipped 1.3 percent, and Kuala Lumpur's KLSE composite lost 0.5 percent, while Bangkok's SET index rose 1.1 percent.
--from staff and wire reports 
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