Asian Markets Update: Japanese Stocks Flat as Golden Week Approaches
TOKYO -- With a major three-day national holiday kicking in tomorrow, Japanese equity traders seemed halfway out the door for most of Tuesday, as stocks gave back early gains in very light trading.
The
Nikkei 225
index rose 36.28 points to 18,439.36, while the
Topix
index, which includes all shares listed on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange's
first section, climbed 7.35 to 1702.58. The
Jasdaq
small-cap index gained 2.23, or 2.2%, to 102.97, while the Nikkei
over-the-counter
index rose 36.94, or 1.8%, to 2086.55.
The launch of three new mutual funds targeting both growth and value stocks helped provide a solid floor for the market. However, with Tokyo markets closed over the next three days, many traders were closing out positions, or selling
June Nikkei 225 futures
in the afternoon. June futures, which are traded on the
Osaka Stock Exchange
, rose 40 to 18,470.00. Tokyo markets will reopen on Monday.
Even though the
Nasdaq Composite
index bounced higher overnight, tech plays were mixed.
Toshiba
rose 15 yen, or 1.3%, to 1143, while
Hitachi
(HIT)
climbed 38, or 2.7%, to 1427.
Sony
(SNE) - Get Report
fell 80 to 12,500.
Softbank
was flat at 28,590, while
Hikari Tsushin
shed 500, or 2.9%, to 16,800.
Japan Oracle
, which jumped to the TSE's first section from the OTC market on Friday, slipped 1900, or 2.3%, to 80,100.
Seven-Eleven Japan
(SVELY)
shed 200, or 1.5%, to 13,100 on worries that a slump in personal spending will halt growth of the firm.
The dollar was trading recently at 108.40 yen.
Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
index, back from a market holiday yesterday, climbed 286.46, or 1.9%, to 15,817.76. Nasdaq's rally overnight helped shares of index heavyweight
China Telecom
(CHL) - Get Report
surge HK$6.00, or 10.7%, to 62.25.
Pacific Century CyberWorks
rose 1.20, or 8.3%, to 15.70, on reports that Japan's Softbank plans to take a 20% stake in a financial portal PCCW plans to set up with American mutual-fund tracker
Morningstar
.
A tech rally helped Korea's
Kospi
index surge 27.20, or 3.8%, to 752.29.
SK Telecom
(SKM) - Get Report
climbed 44,000 won, or 14.9%, to 339,000.
