|
Tokyo tech stocks plunge
|
 |
August 3, 2000: 5:37 a.m. ET
Nikkei drops 2.4% as U.S. analyst downgrades Dell, Straits slips 1%
|
LONDON (CNNfn) - Tech stocks were slammed in Tokyo on Thursday after a U.S. analyst downgraded Dell Computer and warned the personal computer maker may fall short of revenue expectations.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average of 225 stocks slumped 391.75 points, or 2.4 percent, to 15,814.44, with Japan's No.1 computer maker Fujitsu and rival Sony Corp the biggest losers.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was little changed at 17,274.28, with gains for telecom stocks, offset by banks and property companies. Telecom conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa was the leading gainer as it appeared to take a lead in the German third-generation mobile phone auction.
Singapore's Straits Times dropped 20.89 points, or 1 percent, to 2,045.03, led by index heavyweight Singapore Telecom, down more than 1.6 percent, chip maker Chartered Semiconductor falling 2.4 percent and electronic contractor Venture Manufacturing lost 3 percent.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia rose 0.1 percent to 3,275.1, with heavy trading in the resources sector underpinning the market. Resources and forestry group North Ltd rose 14 percent after international miner Rio Tinto lifted its offer to buy the company to A$3.5 billion ($2 billion).
In the U.S. Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80.58 points, or almost 0.8 percent, to 10,687.53, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 27.06 to 3,658.46, its fifth drop in six sessions.
In the currency market, the yen strengthened slightly to ¥108.60 against the U.S. dollar, from ¥108.90 in late trade Wednesday in New York.
In Japan, Fujitsu and rival Sony Corp were the market's biggest losers after US Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst Ashok Kumar on Tuesday adjusted his rating on Dell (DELL: Research, Estimates) to "buy" from "strong buy," citing concerns about its long-term revenue potential and a lack of earnings power in some key product areas. Dell is the world's No. 2 PC supplier.
"We continue to believe that Dell does not have adequate earnings power in notebooks, server and non-system revenue to offset the secular weakness in consumer and commercial desktops," Kumar wrote in a note to clients.
Fujitsu fell 3.3 percent, Sony dropped 3.6 percent, Pioneer Corp tumbled 7.1 percent, TDK Corp plunged 6.3 percent, and Tokyo Electron dropped 6.3 percent.
Electronic wire and cable maker Furukawa Electric fell more than 4.7 percent to ¥3,210, after hitting a record high of ¥3,480 in the previous session.
Internet investor Softbank Corp, which has invested heavily in U.S. internet stocks, fell 6.3 percent as the tech-heavy Nasdaq market lost ground again.
Oracle Corp. Japan, a unit of U.S. database software company Oracle Corp (ORCL: Research, Estimates), dropped 6.6 percent.
Telecom stocks fell. NTT DoCoMo, the country's dominant mobile phone company, fell 1.7 percent; its parent Nippon Telegraph and Telephone lost 4.5 percent and rival Japan Telecom shed 0.5 percent.
Hutchison Whampoa was the biggest gainer among blue chip heavyweights on the Hang Seng, rising 0.9 percent. Investors expect Hutchison is on course to win a German third-generation mobile phone license, possibly at the expense of European telecom goliaths France Telecom (PFTE) and British Telecommunications (BT-A).
Cable & Wireless HKT rose 1percent and merger partner Pacific Century CyberWorks jumped 2.7 percent, while index heavyweight China Mobile lost 0.4 percent.
Banking stocks slipped, British-based bank HSBC Holdings lost 1 percent Bank of East Asia declined 1.1 percent, and Hang Seng Bank slipped 0.6 percent.
Property stocks also declined, Henderson Land lost 1.7 percent and New World Development slipped 0.5 percent.
Among the region's smaller markets, Manila's PHS Composite rose 1.6 percent, the SET composite index in Bangkok gained 1.7 percent, Jakarta's JSX rose 0.3 percent, and Malaysia's KLSE added 0.9 percent.
Taiwan's Weighted index dropped 0.9 percent and South Korea's Kospi index slipped 0.8 percent. 
--from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
