Japan ignores Wall St. bounce
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TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Tokyo stocks ended flat on Thursday, giving up gains after electronics components makers, such as Alps Electric Co. Ltd., fell following disappointing earnings by U.S. peers.
Undaunted, the Australian market bounced back from its loss on Wednesday to finish at an 18-month high.
The Australians were inspired by a strong performance on Wall Street, which hit a two-year high on Wednesday. However, the same positive effect could not be seen on the tech-sensitive Nikkei.
Its average ended down 0.02 percent at 11,000.70, after a 0.91 percent decline in the previous session and well below its morning high of 11,115.13. The broader TOPIX index put on 0.38 percent to 1,074.45.
Traders said institutional selling weighed on the market.
"Banks and corporations are taking profits on their shareholdings ahead of book closings (at the end of March)," said Norihiro Fujito, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi Securities.
"That selling is canceling out buying by foreign investors, who are still pretty bullish on Japanese shares.
Alps Electric ended down 4.97 percent at 1,549 yen after U.S. HDD industry leader Seagate Technology and rival Maxtor Corp. delivered weaker-than-expected outlooks and raised concerns about an impending industry price war.
Japan's TDK Corp., the world's largest maker of magneto-resistive HDD heads, fell 2.26 percent to 7,800 yen.
The day's biggest winner was the construction sector, which got a boost after Credit Suisse First Boston upgraded its rating on Shimizu Corp., Taisei Corp. and Obayashi Corp. to "outperform" from "neutral."
Shimizu, Japan's third-biggest builder, jumped 5.77 percent to 458 yen.
Many of the Asian markets were closed on Thursday because of the start of the Chinese New Year holiday. There was no trade in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore.
The Australian market reached an 18-month high thanks to rises in media, resource and bank stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 20.1 points higher at 3326.6. The All Ordinaries Index grew 18.7 points to end at 3339.4.
News Corp dominated trade volumes, closing seven higher cents at $12.34. Some $17.65 million in shares changed hands.
Other media stocks did well, too. PBL rose 14c to $12.36 and Fairfax added 8c to $3.59.
The maligned National Australia Bank, suffering bad publicity from an estimated loss of $185 million in rogue foreign currency trades, began a comeback. Its value climbed 1.16 percent to end 34c higher at A429.54.
The Commonwealth Bank gained 29c to $30.90, ANZ gathered 20c for an $18.05 close. Macquarie Bank piled on 73 cents, or 2.17 per cent, to $34.33.
Australian Associated Press reported Macquarie announced its African investment joint venture had raised $125 million in its second private infrastructure fund, with plans afoot to raise more in coming months.
Other winners were property specialist Lend Lease Corp., which rose 3.13 percent to end at A$10.55, and Westfield Holdings, which was up 2.91 percent for a price of A$13.45.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
