Emerging Asian markets higher; Tokyo still down

Asian equities markets, especially in emerging economies, saw gains on Tuesday after Monday’s losses. Bargain-hunting and higher commodities prices helped bring about the advances.

In Mumbai, the Sensex index added 3.3 percent to 10,822.78 after a 4.2 percent decline Monday. In Jakarta, the JSX index was up 1.3 percent to 1,326.26, while in Singapore the Straits Times index gained 0.5 percent to 2,429.55 and in Bangkok the SET index advanced by 0.5 percent to 727.21.

The exception to the gains was Japan, where the Tokyo equities markets dropped significantly on declines in a number of sectors. The Nikkei 225 dropped 1.6 percent to 15,599.20, while the Topix index declined by 2.3 percent to 1,579.26, as both closed at their lowest levels in three months.

Banks dropped 4.3 percent as a sector. Mitsubishi UFJ was down 6.1 percent to ¥1,530,000 after it said that earnings in the 2006/2007 fiscal year would be down substantially from record profits in 2005/2006. Mizuho declined by 4.8 percent to ¥895,000 on comments from UBS that its operating profits target for the 2006/2007 fiscal year could be overly ambitious.

The securities sector was down by 2.7 percent on the day, with Nomura dropping 2.9 percent to ¥2,200 and Nikko Cordial losing 2.6 percent to ¥1,599.

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