Most Asian shares rise after slim Wall Street gains, helped by strength in tech shares

Asian markets advance after slim Wall Street gains

TOKYO — Most Asian markets rose Thursday after a seesaw session on Wall Street, helped by gains in tech stocks after an industry report in Japan showed increased demand for chips.

Investors were getting some respite from the slew of bad economic news that battered global markets the past few weeks with U.S. retailers reporting better earnings. But the gains in Asia were mostly modest, reflecting the underlying uncertainty about the strength of economic growth in the second half.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average jumped 95 points, or 1 percent, to 9,335.54, boosted by rises in technology stocks and the dollar paring some of its recent losses against the strong yen.

Investors weighed a possible meeting next week about the yen — which recently hit a 15-year high against the dollar — between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.7 percent to 1,774.76, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.3 percent to 21,085.25, and the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.1 percent to 2,668.39.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.2 percent at 4,465.30. Dragging sentiment were uncertainties over miner BHP Billiton Ltd.’s hostile $38.5 billion takeover bid for one of the world’s biggest fertilizer producers.

BHP on Wednesday reacted to Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan’s dismissal of its bid as “grossly inadequate” by going directly to shareholders with the $130 a share offer. BHP fell 1.1 percent.

Tech shares helped fuel upward momentum in Japan and South Korea after a monthly report from the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan showed rising demand and Applied Materials Inc. forecast higher earnings.

Tokyo Electron Ltd., which makes chip-related equipment, jumped 4.6 percent. South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor Inc. added 2.8 percent.

In New York on Wednesday, the Dow rose 9.69, or 0.1 percent, to 10,415.54. up 0.1 percent to 10,415.54 after investors found some positive news in retail earnings reports. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.2 percent to 1,094.16, and the Nasdaq composite index added 0.3 percent to 2,215.70.

In currencies, the dollar rose to 85.76 yen from 85.47 yen late Wednesday. The euro fell to $1.2803 from $1.2841.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 13 cents at $75.29 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 35 cents to settle at $75.42 on Wednesday after dropping as low as $73.83.