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Asia rises marginally(Baystreet Foreign Markets Wrap (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for its biggest weekly rally in three months, after U.S. unemployment slid to the lowest level since before the peak of the financial crisis. Japan's Nikkei 225 index regained 88.84 points, or 0.6%, to 15,437.13, The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong recovered 14.92 points, or 0.1%, to 23,546.36 Mazda Motor Corp., which gets 31% of its sales in North America gained 1.2% in Tokyo. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. added 7.3% in Hong Kong after securing orders from Qualcomm Inc. to make chips for the world's largest supplier of smartphone processors. Seven & I Holdings Co., a Japanese convenience-store operator, added 2% after its first-quarter operating profit grew. Techtronic Industries Co., a maker of power tools that gets 73% of its sales in North America, added 1.9% in Hong Kong. HTC Corp. jumped 1.1% in Taipei after returning to profit as the release of its marquee One M8 smartphone and a cut in marketing costs helped stem the effects of a continued decline in sales. Sands China Ltd. advanced 2.4% in Hong Kong after HSBC Holdings Plc raised its target price on the Macau casino operator. In other markets; The Shanghai CSI 300 docked 1.5 points to 2,178.70 In Korea, the Kospi index slipped 1.31 points, or 0.1%, to 2,009.66 Singapore's Straits Times Index dipped 0.90 points to 3,272.25 In Taiwan, the Taiex index slipped 16.18 points, or 0.2%, to 9,510.05 In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 21.51 points, or 0.4%, to 5,188.91 Australia's S&P/ASX 200 hiked 33.73 points, or 0.6%, to 5,524.98 © 1998 - 2014 Baystreet.ca Media Corp. All rights reserved. |