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Asia ends week on a high
TOKYO, Japan -- Asian markets closed higher Friday, with investors buoyed by reports that U.S. troops have taken control of Baghdad's international airport . Taiwan jumped more than 3 percent and South Korea rose 2.3 percent. Hong Kong put on 2 percent. The prospect of an early end to the war in Iraq helped offset nervousness about the SARS disease outbreak in Asia and its impact on travel and tourism. Stocks initially were lower Friday, following the U.S. markets' weaker performance Thursday on poor economic data. But Japan staged a turnaround in the afternoon, with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.7 percent higher at 8074.12. The broader Topix put on 0.24 percent to 795.55. Markets in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand were all higher, though their gains were relatively muted. The U.S. dollar is trading firmer at about 119.98 yen in Tokyo late on Friday. Gold is at a four-month low of $322.60 and oil prices are steady. Wall Street's rally took a pause, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 0.54 percent to 8240.38. The Nasdaq composite was flat, down just 0.01 percent to 1396.58. (Full report) There were poor numbers on U.S. jobless claims and activity in the services sector, suggesting continued weakness in the world's biggest economy. But the International Monetary Fund said Thursday in its global outlook that the risk of the U.S. falling into recession was down to 15 percent. (Full story) In Tokyo, the big banks recovered some of the massive losses seen on Thursday, when Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group both fell to record lows. Mizuho jumped more than 6 percent early in the day, before closing 2.34 percent higher at 74,400 yen. SMFG firmed 4.05 percent to 180,000 yen. Airlines JAL and ANA also ended sharply higher. Among carmakers, there were gains for Mazda, Nissan and Mitsubishi, but Toyota and Honda closed in the red. Telecom giant NTT fell 1.19 percent to 415,000 yen and its mobile phone subsidiary NTT DoCoMo, the market's biggest stock, dropped 0.86 percent to 230,000 yen. DoCoMo said it had met its lower 3G subscriber target. (Full story) Big consumer electronics exporter Sony recovered from a 2 percent fall to close 0.48 percent lower at 4140 yen. Tech-related stocks Tokyo Electron and NEC closed lower. South Korea up
In Seoul, the Kospi finished 2.34 percent higher at 558.01. Leading automaker Hyundai Motor jumped 6.25 percent to 24,650 won and big chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 1.61 percent to 283,500 won. Mobile telephone company SK Telecom gained just over 3 percent to 169,000 won and big banks Kookmin and Shinhan also made strong gains. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished 2.02 percent higher at 8822.45. Banking leader HSBC was up 0.9 percent to HK$82.75. China Mobile ended up 2.61 percent to HK$15.70 and PCCW was 1.7 percent higher at HK$4.525. Kerry Properties was one of the biggest gainers, up 5.56 percent to HK$6.65. Taiwan's Taiex was the region's best performer, up 3.23 percent to 4491.18. Tech stocks showed good gains, with 3 percent rises for chip foundries TSMC and UMC and a 4 percent gain to T$20.70 for screenmaker AU Optronics. Singapore's Straits Times index is up 0.62 percent to 1311.10 near the close. Singapore Airlines is up 2.2 percent to S$9.20, but SingTel is unchanged. Australia's S&P/ASX200 put on 0.86 percent to 2933.5. But News Corp, which jumped on Thursday after reports it now had a clear run to bid for U.S. satellite broadcaster DirecTV, lost 0.44 percent to A$11.34. Blue chips BHP Billiton, NAB and TelstraQantas all finished higher. Airline Qantas was unchanged at A$3.14. Gaming machine maker Aristocrat jumped 8.48 percent to A$1.79 after dumping its CEO and CEO. (Full story) New Zealand's Top 50 closed 0.74 percent higher at 1945.98. Air New Zealand and Telecom NZ both registered good gains. Reuters contributed to this report.
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