Asian stocks rise on Greece debt talks, Japanese data

 

Asian stocks were mostly higher Tuesday as traders watched for a possible deal to cut Greece s debts and Japanese factory output rebounded.

 

Tokyo s Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 percent to 8,817.9 after data showed December industrial activity rose 4 percent over the previous month. Hong Kong s Hang Seng gained 0.7 percent to 20,303.9 and Seoul s Kospi was up 0.8 percent at 1,955.2.

 

Traders watched Europe, a major export market, following reports Greece and its creditors were close to a deal to cut its debts. Also Monday, European leaders agreed on a new treaty meant to stop overspending and put an end to the region s crippling debt woes.

 

“Everyone is watching the European summit and how the Greek debt crisis comes out,” said Jackson Wong at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong. “The general atmosphere is to play a wait-and-see game.”

 

China s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was flat at 2,281.4 ahead of Wednesday s release of a key manufacturing index. Investors are hoping for a loosening of credit curbs or other measures to boost growth if it shows activity is slowing amid lackluster global demand for Chinese goods.

 

Benchmarks in Taiwan and Indonesia rose while Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand fell.

 

European markets tumbled Monday on concerns Greece s financial problems might not be solved even if creditors agree to cancel part of its debt.

 

Under a tentative agreement, investors holding 206 billion euros ($272 billion) in Greek bonds would exchange them for bonds with half the face value. The replacement bonds would have a longer maturity and pay a lower interest rate. When the bonds mature, Greece would have to pay its bondholders only 103 billion euros.

 

France s CAC-40 shed 1.6 percent while Britain s FTSE 100 and Germany s DAX both lost 1 percent.

 

Wall Street fell in early trading but Asian investors were encouraged after the Dow Jones industrial average recovered most of its losses to close down just 0.1 percent. The Standard & Poor s 500 lost 0.8 percent.

 

Borrowing costs for European countries with the heaviest debt burdens shot higher. The two-year interest rate for Portugal s government debt jumped to 21 percent after trading around 14 percent last week.

 

Portugal may become the next country “where default is a real possibility,” said Martin Hennecke of Tyche Group in Hong Kong.

 

“The euro zone crisis is far from being fixed at all. Italy and Spain are effectively bankrupt as well,” Hennecke said. “For Asia, that means there is huge uncertainty in terms of export markets.”

 

The treaty agreed to Monday by all European Union governments except Britain and the Czech Republic includes strict debt brakes and is aimed at making it harder for violators to escape sanctions. The 17 countries in the eurozone hope the tighter rules will restore confidence in their joint currency.

 

The agreement comes as richer countries such as Germany are losing patience with giving Athens loans, saying the Greek government is not carrying out reforms and spending cuts fast enough. A German official proposed having an EU monitor oversee Greek spending but that idea was quickly rejected at Monday s meeting in Brussels.

 

Benchmark oil for March delivery gained 37 cents to $99.39 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

 

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.319 from $1.3114 late Monday in New York. The dollar held steady at 76.25 yen.

China’s first aircraft carrier starts sea trials

China s first aircraft carrier started sea trials on Wednesday, a step that will likely boost concerns about the country s naval ambitions amid ongoing disputes with its neighbors over territorial waters.

The carrier left Dalian port in northeast Liaoning province early on Wednesday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The test run had been expected.

Xinhua said the first sea trial was in line with the schedule to rebuild the carrier, with China spending the best part of a decade refurbishing the former Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag after it was towed from Ukraine in 1998. The report cited unnamed military sources.

China officially acknowledged a month ago that it is rebuilding the carrier and said the refurbished ship would be used for research and training a strong indication it plans to build carriers of its own.

China s carrier ambitions have sparked concern among neighbors amid heightened tensions over territorial disputes around Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Over the past year, China has seen a flare-up in territorial spats with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam and seen its relations strained with South Korea all of which have turned to Washington, long the pre-eminent naval power in Asia, for support.

Xinhua said refitting and test work would continue on the carrier when it returns from its short sea trial.

The Varyag, yet to be officially renamed, was towed from Ukraine as an empty shell without engines, weapons systems or other crucial equipment. It has been under construction for the better part of a decade.

Defense experts say China plans up to four carriers in all, with preparations under way at a Shanghai shipyard.

No time period for the trial was given by Xinhua, but a statement posted on the website of the Liaoning Maritime Safety Authority said “all vessels will be barred from entering” a small section of the sea off Dalian on August 14.

There had been earlier online reports in China that the test was set to start last weekend, but it may have been delayed by a tropical storm that swept through the area.

 

Huge tsunami kills hundreds in Japan, sweeps across Pacific

TOKYO: The biggest earthquake on record to hit Japan rocked the northeast coast on Friday, triggering a 10-metre tsunami that killed hundreds of people and swept away everything in its path, including houses, ships and cars.

The Red Cross in Geneva said the wall of water was higher than some Pacific islands and a tsunami warning was issued for almost the entire Pacific basin, although alerts were lifted for some countries, including Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.

Up to 300 bodies were found in the coastal city of Sendai, media said. NHK television said the victims appeared to have drowned. The extent of the destruction along a lengthy stretch of coastline suggested the death toll could rise significantly.

Some 3,000 residents living near a nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture, north of Tokyo, were told to evacuate but the government said no radiation was leaking. It said the evacuation was a precaution after a reactor cooling malfunction.

Other nuclear power plants and oil refineries were shut down after the 8.9 magnitude quake, while one refinery was ablaze. A major explosion hit a petrochemical complex in Miyagi prefecture after the quake, Kyodo said.

Political leaders pushed for an emergency budget to help fund relief efforts after Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked them to “save the country”, Kyodo news agency reported.

Stunning TV footage showed a muddy wall of water carrying cars and wrecked homes at high speed across farmland near Sendai, home to one million people and which lies 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Ships had been flung onto a harbour wharf, where they lay helplessly on their side.

The quake, the most powerful since Japan started keeping records 140 years ago, sparked at least 80 fires in cities and towns along the coast, Kyodo news agency said.

A ship carrying 100 people had been swept away by the tsunami, Kyodo said. One train was unaccounted for.

In Tokyo, residents who had earlier fled swaying buildings jammed the streets trying to make their way home after much of the city’s public transportation was shut down.

Electronics giant Sony Corp , one of the country’s biggest exporters, shut six factories, as air force jets raced toward the northeast coast to determine the extent of the damage.

The Bank of Japan, which has been struggling to boost the anaemic economy, said it would do its utmost to ensure financial market stability as the yen and Japanese shares fell.

“I was terrified and I”m still frightened,” said Hidekatsu Hata, 36, manager of a Chinese noodle restaurant in Tokyo, where buildings shook violently. “I’ve never experienced such a big quake before.”

The tsunami alerts revived memories of the giant waves which struck Asia in 2004. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued alerts for countries to the west and across the Pacific as far away as Colombia and Peru.

The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world in the past century.

There were several strong aftershocks. In Tokyo, there was widespread panic. An oil refinery near the city was on fire, with dozens of storage tanks under threat.

Around 4.4 million homes were without power in northern Japan, media said.

“People are flooding the streets. It’s incredible. Everyone is trying to get home but I didn’t see any taxis,” said Koji Goto, a 43-year-old Tokyo resident.

NHK television showed flames and black smoke billowing from a building in Odaiba, a Tokyo suburb, and bullet trains to the north of the country were halted. Thick smoke was also pouring out of an industrial area in Yokohama’s Isogo area. TV showed residents of the city running out of shaking buildings, shielding their heads with their hands from falling masonry.

TV footage showed boats, cars and trucks tossed around like toys in the water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi in northern Japan. An overpass, location unknown, appeared to have collapsed and cars were turning around and speeding away.

“The building shook for what seemed a long time and many people in the newsroom grabbed their helmets and some got under their desks,” Reuters correspondent Linda Sieg said in Tokyo. “It was probably the worst I have felt since I came to Japan more than 20 years ago.”

The U.S. navy said its ships had been unaffected by the tsunami and were ready to provide disaster relief if needed.

China offered to provide earthquake relief.

The quake struck just before the Tokyo stock market closed, pushing the Nikkei down to end at a five-week low. Nikkei futures trading in Osaka tumbled as much as 4.7 percent in reaction to the news.

The disaster also weighed on markets elsewhere.

GREAT KANTO QUAKE

The quake surpasses the Great Kanto quake of Sept. 1, 1923, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area.

The 1995 Kobe quake caused $100 billion in damage and was the most expensive natural disaster in history. Economic damage from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was estimated at about $10 billion.

Passengers on a subway line in Tokyo screamed and grabbed other passengers” hands during the quake. The shaking was so bad it was hard to stand, said Reuters reporter Mariko Katsumura.

Hundreds of office workers and shoppers spilled into Hitotsugi street, a shopping street in Akasaka in downtown Tokyo.

Crowds gathered in front of televisions in a shop next to the drugstore for details. After the shaking from the first quake subsided, crowds watched and pointed to construction cranes on an office building up the street with voices saying, “They”re still shaking!”, “Are they going to fall?”

Japan”s northeast Pacific coast, called Sanriku, has suffered from quakes and tsunamis in the past and a 7.2 quake struck on Wednesday. In 1933, a magnitude 8.1 quake in the area killed more than 3,000 people.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world”s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

NZ quake toll rises as hope fades for survivors

CHRISTCHURCH: Rescuers extended their search on Friday to shattered houses close to the epicentre of Christchurch’s deadly earthquake, but rain and cold dimmed hopes of finding more survivors of New Zealand’s worst disaster in decades.

Pacific countries became first to mark start of 2011

SYDNEY: New Year revellers around the planet began welcoming 2011 in a blaze of fireworks and parties Friday, temporarily banishing the misery of extreme weather that has struck across the world.

Countries in the Pacific became the first to mark the start of the year as a crowd of about 1.5 million crammed Sydney”s foreshore, drawn in record numbers by afternoon sunshine ahead of fireworks on the Harbour Bridge – even as Australia’s northeast battled devastating floods.

In Europe, crowds were set to throng landmarks like London’s Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower, following a big freeze that paralysed travel and cut power and water supplies for tens of thousands.

And New York workers were scrambling to plough snow out of Times Square for the famous New Year countdown, after a blizzard dumped 32 inches (80 centimetres) on the city and surrounding areas.

Party-goers carrying blankets and camping equipment began descending on Sydney harbour more than 12 hours before the main fireworks display at 1300 GMT, with new arrivals turned away as early as 3pm (0400 GMT).

Extreme, 43 degrees C (109 F) heat brought the risk of wildfires near Adelaide, while celebrations in the country’s north were muted by floods that left vast swathes of land underwater and forced thousands to leave their homes.

The tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, just east of the international dateline, was the first to welcome in 2011 at 1000 GMT. The deeply religious community of about 6,000 had been set to mark the occasion with village church services.

New Zealand, which has experienced a mild heatwave over the festive period, moved into 2011 soon after, with a fireworks spectacular in Auckland as part of a celebration themed “Hot in the City”.

Further south in Christchurch, hit by a powerful earthquake in September, officials only approved celebrations after late checks and modifications, including removing the city cathedral’s crucifix in case it fell on revellers.

In Asia, about 400,000 were expected at a glittering fireworks-and-laser display along neon-lit Hong Kong’s harbour, while millions of Japanese will visit Shinto shrines to “purify” themselves.

Although Lunar New Year is a much bigger event in the continent, thousands will brave Beijing’s cold for the countdown at an up market shopping centre, while about 7,000 were expected at a kite-flying event in central Shanghai.

Seoul was to observe Buddhist tradition with a bell at Bosingak traditional pavilion rung 33 times by 11 civilian delegates in turn, watched by up to 100,000 revellers.

Midnight marks the beginning of year 100 on Taiwan’s calendar, and was to be celebrated with Taipei’s biggest ever New Year fireworks costing 60 million Taiwan dollars (two million US) and a concert by pop idols.

Thousands of people will jam Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake for midnight, while the “Bangkok Countdown” outside a glitzy mall – where major anti-government protests took place this year — is the centrepiece of Thailand’s celebrations.

In Myanmar, democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, released this year after more than seven years of house arrest, called for the country”s people “to struggle together with new strengths, new force and new words in the auspicious new year”.

Revellers in Indian financial and entertainment capital Mumbai – scene of a 2008 attack that killed 166 people – were given the go-ahead to party through the night, despite intelligence about a possible New Year militant strike.

Meanwhile 250,000 people will throng the banks of London’s River Thames to hear Big Ben chime the last midnight of 2010, the traditional sound of the British New Year.

Millions of others will crowd landmarks like Rome’s Colosseum and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, as well as Paris”s Champs Elysees and the Puerta del Sol in Madrid.

Earlier, organisers were forced to cancel a giant January 1 snowball fight in Berlin after 8,000 signed up, while in New York this week, people wrote down and shredded bad memories of 2010 in Times Square for “Good Riddance Day”.

Asian stocks up

Asian News: Asian stock markets rose Tuesday as tensions on the Korean peninsula eased a few notches.

Investors spent the previous day worried about possible North Korean retaliation against South Korean military drills on a frontline island that was shelled by the North last month. Instead, Pyongyang backed off threats to strike back and reportedly offered concessions on its nuclear program.Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average climbed 1.5 percent to 10,370.53 after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged at the current super loose setting after a key survey last week showed deteriorating business sentiment.Japanese exporters climbed, with Sony Corp. up 2.7 percent and Canon Inc. adding 1.6 percent.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.4 percent to 22,966.08. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.8 percent to 2,037.09 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.8 percent at 4,771.90.China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.8 percent to 2,904.30. Markets in Taiwan, India, and Singapore also rose.In New York Monday, low trading volumes and a lack of economic reports kept stocks confined to a narrow range Monday. Indexes finished mixed and bond yields were barely changed.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.78, or 0.1 percent, to 11,478.13. The broader Standard and Poor’s 500-stock index rose 3.17, or 0.3 percent, to 1,247.08. The Nasdaq composite index gained 6.59, or 0.3 percent, to finish at 2,649.56.

Bullish trend at world stocks

Both world stocks and oil prices witnessed a surge as China interest rates remain unchanged.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 81.94 points, or 0.8 percent, to 10,293.89 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.5 percent to 1,996.59. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.7 percent to 23,317.61 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched 0.2 percent higher to 4,757.10. Stocks in Taiwan, India and Thailand also rose. In New York on Friday, an encouraging trade report and signs that a tax cut package would pass the Senate sent U.S. stocks to their highest levels in two years. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 40.26, or 0.4 percent, to 11,410.32.In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3223 from $1.3226 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 84.28 yen from 83.91 yen.Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 61 cents at $88.40 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 58 cents to settle at $87.79 on Friday.

12th Digicon6 Awards: China’s ‘See Through’ wins big, India gets regional grand

Tokyo: TBS DigiCon6 announced the winners for 12th TBS DigiCon6 Awards in a grand ceremony held at Marunouchi Building Hall on November 19, 2010. The event

was indeed a historic one for Asian Animation industry where creativity and effort got recognition and appreciation at the centre stage.

Attended by the who’s who of the Asian animation industry, the Golden Digicon6 Award was won by China’s official entry See Through, made by Jokelate.

India’s Wilson Periera made by National Institute of Design’s young turk Dhaneesh Jameson, won Asian Regional Grand Prize.

China’s representative Yang Yu, who was present at the ceremony on behalf of Jokelate, commented, “I am sure this award means a lot to the creative effort

put together by Jokelate and he would be very excited to know about his victory. This award is not going to be an end to his work and efforts but will be a

motivation for him to work further in his life.”

This year TBS DigiCon6 received over 2,000 entries from Japan and other Asian
regions such as China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines,
Taiwan and Thailand. TBS DigiCon6 Asia jury selected the awards winners for six
categories and announced them at the ceremony. TBS DigiCon6 Japan jury selected the awards winners for nine categories and announced them, too.

An elated Dhaneesh added, “I really feel proud and honored to have won this prize and to represent the country. The film was well received at Digicon6 than

any other festivals that I have been till now. I got the biggest compliment for my film from the well known Korean director Kwak Jae-yong and I was

speechless when he said he personally got my film subtitled in Korean and watched it over 5 times!”

TBS DigiCon6 was organized in 2000 by Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc, one of major television stations, to discover and support new talent. It has been

inviting digital contents creators, both professionals and amateurs, to submit their original works in the competition, and it is widely recognized for its

achievement.

Complete list of 12th TBS DigiCon6 Awards winners:

12th TBS DigiCon6 Awards Winners
Golden DigiCon6 Award – See Through – Jokelate CHINA
Silver DigiCon6 Award – Googuri Googuri – Yoshiko Misumi JAPAN
Bronze DigiCon6 Award – Kung Fu Bunny 3 – Counterattack- Li Zhiyong CHINA

Encouragement Awards:
Fumiko’s Confession – Hiroyasu Ishida JAPAN
Temple Rider – Radio Television Hong Kong / Simage Animation & Media Ltd. HONG KONG
CONTAINED – Henry Zhuang & Harry Zhuang SINGAPORE

12th TBS DigiCon6 JAPAN Regional Awards Winners
Grand Prize – Fumiko’s Confession – Hiroyasu Ishida JAPAN

Outstanding Performance Awards:
The Light of Life – Daihei Shibata JAPAN
Googuri Googuri – Yoshiko Misumi JAPAN

Encouragement Awards:
UTOPIAN – TOKUNAGA MARIKO JAPAN
Dreamer – Naohisa Ikuta JAPAN
SUNRISE Award – Rainy Holiday – Kaneko Osamu JAPAN
Adobe Systems Award – ab-rah KOHEI YOSHINO JAPAN
Hewlett-Packard & ATI Award – Amagoi Suzuki Ippei JAPAN
Mitsubishi Estate Award – Travel of Art – YU MASHIMO JAPAN
BS-TBS Award – Sepia Clock – Gaku Kinoshita JAPAN
Hole Makino Atsushi JAPAN

Prize for Effort:
Hole – Makino Atsushi JAPAN
Tokyo Teleport – Takeda Yuta JAPAN
a song like a fish – Taijin Takeuchi JAPAN
A GUM BOY – Masaki Okuda JAPAN
flesh color – masahiko Adachi JAPAN

Asian Regional Awards Grand Prizes
CHINA: Kung Fu Bunny 3 – Counterattack – Li Zhiyong
HONGKONG: Temple Rider – Radio Television Hong Kong / Simage Animation & Media Ltd.
INDIA: WILSON PERIERA – Dhaneesh Jameson
KOREA: Tom N Jerry – CHOI JIN SUNG
MALAYSIA: Bo Boi Boy – ANIMONSTA STUDIOS SDN. BHD.
PHILIPPINES: Mutya – Nelson “Blog” A. Caliguia, Jr.
SINGAPORE: Calypso Agency – Jose Andres Velasco
TAIWAN: CREATION – Hsuan-Ying Lu
THAILAND: Impassable – NATTAPORN YIAMCHAWEE

Asian stock markets rise after Fed’s stimulus plan

Asian stock markets climbed Friday as investors took heart from the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy $600 billion in government bonds in an effort to inject life into the faltering US economy.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index jumped 204.94 points, or 2.2 percent, to 9,364.92 despite pressure on exporters as the dollar fell below the 81 yen level.
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3 percent to 1,942.08 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.4 percent at 4,815.00. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.9 percent to 24,363.54. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 3,047.78.
Elsewhere, markets in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan advanced while New Zealand’s index fell.

Asian stocks remain mixed

Asian stock markets are exhibiting a mixed trend on Tuesday with investors treading cautiously ahead of the announcement of key quarterly results. The dollar was largely unchanged at 80.71 yen, close to a 15-year low of around 80.40 yen and not far from a record low of 79.75 yen last plumbed in April 1995.
The Japanese stock market is trading weak with a stronger yen and caution ahead of earnings reports contributing to the decline to an extent. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which declined to around 9,360 after edging up marginally in early trades, was down 17.76 points or 0.19% at 9,383.40 at the end of the morning session. Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore are trading weak, while Shanghai, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are up marginally. Markets across the region ended mostly higher on Monday.

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