Market Report – Techs Weigh on Asian Stocks

In today’s market report… Asian stocks struggled to hold on to gains, as weakness in technology shares outweighed gains in banking stocks.

The dollar found support from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s promise not to devalue the currency.

Citigroup’s stronger-than-expected earnings lifted Asia’s financials, with banks like Mizuho and Mitsubishi UFJ leading gains in Tokyo.

Standard Chartered rose nearly 1.5 percent in Hong Kong, while Westpac and ANZ added over half a percent in Sydney.

But overall gains from the financial sector were limited by falls in technology stocks, after Apple disappointed with margins and iPad sales figures.

IBM’s drop in new service contracts also clouded the outlook for the tech sector.

Top Taiwan chipmaker TSMC slipped, and Apple suppliers Hon Hai and Foxconn also lost ground.

The TAIEX slipped 0.2 percent.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics and its supplier Samsung SDI were among the biggest losers as the KOSPI fell one percent.

Japanese consumer technology stocks were mixed, with hopes that new U.S. stimulus would revive demand, tempered by the strong yen.

Nintendo shares rose nearly two percent after JPMorgan started coverage of the stock at overweight, saying its new 3D game console would be a share booster.

Tokyo stocks edged up 0.4 percent.

Foto: NTDTV