Hitachi puts the brakes on Tokyo

THE recent advance from 19-year lows by

The Nikkei 225 Average dipped more than 50 points in early trade after Hitachi's warning sent its stock down 1.5%, while shares of rival electronics groups slid by up to 3%. Some modest buying in the early afternoon left the Nikkei up 15.15 at 9415.23.

Other big exporters have stood by earlier forecasts that demand would overcome the impact of the yen's 12% rise this year, but Hitachi broke ranks today and said it would only break even in the six months to end September after originally pencilling in a profit target of five billion yen. Losses on the Nikkei were reversed by continuing strength in other exporters, whose products are seen to have more appeal than Hitachi's range. Sony, still enjoying bumper US sales of its PlayStation 2 video console, moved ahead, while continuing strong automobile sales in the US gave a further lift to motor manufacturers.

Overseas demand for their products contributed to another rise to a record in Japan's current account surplus. In the tenth straight monthly increase, the current account rose 58.1% year-on-year on exports and repatriated profits but sluggish domestic demand kept imports weak.

Hong Kong stocks opened weaker but late morning demand for airlines turned the fall in the Hang Seng index into a 43.31-point gain to 9925.66. Bullish forecasts on global air traffic from the International Civil Aviation Organisation lifted shares in Cathay Pacific by almost 1.5%, and locally quoted China Southern Airlines jumped more than 4%. Mainland mobile telephone operators were hurt by reports that the Beijing government will allow more freedom to fix prices, raising concerns about a price war between leading player China Mobile and its rival China Unicom, which both slipped.

Signs of slowing US demand for semiconductors took Taiwan's Weighted Average down 33.48 to 4627.05 but a proposed rescue plan for South Korea's troubled Hynix chipmaking group sent its shares soaring 15%, offsetting weakness elsewhere and helping to pull the Kospi up 9.81 points to 734.52.

Strong employment figures pointing to continued economic growth in Australia failed to rally the All Ordinaries as investors warily watched Middle East developments. It dipped 7.1 to 3090.5. Resources stocks led by BHP Billiton and Woodside Petroleum continued to attract buyers as global oil prices looked set to rise further, but the gains were cancelled by the effect of the Fed's gloomier outlook on other blue-chips.

Computer-related stocks and blue-chips in Singapore slipped on the cloudy economic outlook and the Straits Times index lost 5.76 points to 1442.72. Malaysia's market extended its rally for a third day and the Kuala Lumpur Composite added 4.01 points to 693.71. Thailand's SET gained 2.96 points to 364.31 but Jakarta's Composite dipped 0.51 to 429.61.

Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed in the tables.