Tech profits propel Asian stocks |
http://www.sina.com.cn 2005/07/18 14:17 Shanghai Daily |
Asian stocks gained yesterday, paced by technology companies including Advantest Corp and Lenovo Group Ltd, after profit from Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Apple Computer Inc beat analysts' expectations. "Earnings across the board are looking pretty OK, which will benefit shares," said Takashi Kamiya, chief strategist at T&D Asset Management Co in Tokyo. "We're seeing companies work down their excessive inventories and tech demand should start to pick up this year." South Korea's Kospi index closed at its highest in more than a decade. Hynix Semiconductor Inc surged after saying STMicroelectronics NV, Europe's second-largest chipmaker, approached it about "strategic" discussions over its memory chip businesses. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks more than 1,000 stocks, rose 0.8 percent to 99.90 in Tokyo. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.9 percent. Hong Kong's Seng Index extended a four-year high. Indexes around the region rose, except in India and New Zealand. The Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index added 1.4 percent, the region's biggest gainer, after a protest against President Gloria Arroyo on Wednesday didn't lead to violence. Ayala Corp led gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.1 percent on Wednesday. Shares of Advanced Micro, the world's No. 2 personal-computer chipmaker, climbed 3.2 percent in extended trading, while Apple jumped 3.6 percent. Both companies announced results after the close of regular US trading. Japan's Advantest rose 2.7 percent to 8,320 yen. Lenovo Group, the world's third-biggest personal-computer maker, surged 6.3 percent to 2.525 Hong Kong dollars (32 US cents). Advanced Micro reported second-quarter profit of 3 US cents a share on record processor sales, compared with a loss of 5 cents a share expected by analysts in a Thomson Financial survey. The company said it was "fairly optimistic" about demand in the second half. Apple said third-quarter profit before one-time items jumped fivefold to 38 cents a share, beating its forecast and the 31-cent average analyst estimate. Sales of iPod digital music players unexpectedly surged to a record and Macintosh computer shipments reached a five-year high driven by record notebook sales. "This acceleration that we're seeing in notebooks coming through in Apple's results is going to continue," Peter Sutton, head of Taiwan research at CLSA, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. "The strength Apple is reporting in notebooks is not just a market-share issue, but also a total market issue." LG Electronics Inc, South Korea's second-largest electronics maker, rose 1.5 percent to 68,700 won (US$66.61). Sony Corp, the maker of the PSP portable game console and Vaio computers, gained 1 percent to 3,990 yen (US$35.60). More than half of the 162 computer-related companies in Japan's Topix index are set to report this month, starting next week. Another 70 companies will report in August. "Expectations for tech earnings are high," said Hiroichi Nishi, a manager at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc, in Tokyo. "Good numbers in the US should help reassure investors about results here." Asustek Computer Inc, which has Apple as a customer, rose 1.8 percent to 95 New Taiwan dollars (US$2.98). Quanta Computer Inc, the world's biggest notebook computer maker, gained 1 percent to NT$62.90. Taiwanese companies are responsible for putting together nearly 90 percent of the world's notebooks on an assembly or design basis, according to CLSA's Sutton. Creative Technology Ltd, whose MP3 music devices compete with Apple's iPod jumped 5.4 percent to 13.60 Singapore dollars (US$8.04). (Bloomberg News) |
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