Elpida Memory, Inc

South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (SEO:000660), the world's No. 2 memory chipmaker, posted the highest first quarter earnings in its history with a 2.82 trillion won registered sales. The company posted a 799.1 billion won operating profit on a consolidated basis, compared to an operating loss of 514.6 billion won a year earlier, thanks to strong chip prices.

Friday Asian stocks received a positive lead from Wall Street. US stocks overnight posted a slim gain, supported by better-than-expected retail sales data and analyst upgrades of a batch of blue-chip companies. Yesterday most Asian markets closed lower on renewed worries about China's policy tightening. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 1.4 per cent, while Shanghai Composite lost 2.4 per cent, with China's banking and property shares dropping sharply. Singapore market was also impacted by China's property bubble concerns, and Straits Times slid 0.5 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 was off 1.1 per cent as strong yen hurt exporters.

Wall Street shares closed mixed as investors took a breather after the new year's rally and turned cautious ahead of the payroll and employment data due on Friday. Yesterday Asian shares ended mostly higher following the good performance in Wall Street. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 2.1 per cent higher while Shanghai Composite added 1.2 per cent.

Asian stocks markets were mostly higher on Wednesday. The Japanese market was buoyed by the positive machinery orders data, and the U.S. dollar dropped sharply against the yen after the data. World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on a conference in Singapore today that the US dollar's role as a reserve currency is intact, but the Chinese yuan could provide an alternative in the next 10-15 years.

Japanese PC memory maker Elpida Memory Inc (TYO:6665) said its production subsidiary, Taiwan firm Rexchip Electronics Corp, turned profitable in July-September on rising prices of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM). Rexchip is expected to report a net profit of almost 1 billion yen for the quarter, the first time to make operating net profits in five quarters.

Japan's Elpida Memory Inc (TYO:6665) said that it plans to more than double its output of advanced DRAM chips for high-speed computers and servers next month, pushing its shares higher on Monday.

Most Asian major markets rebounded on Wednesday morning as investors' sentiment was boosted by gains on Wall Street overnight. Asian stocks fell massively Tuesday with most declines in financial sector.

Most Asian markets ended lower Thursday, giving up gains from the previous session. Japan's Nikkei 225 finished down 2.4% as exporters were hit by the stronger yen. Other major indexes including China's Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and South Korea's Kospi ended with rather small changes as investors were not confident to the economic outlook and waiting for a clear picture.

Today the major indexes in Asia have been hit by the unfavourable news from the US. Asian share markets ended mixed yesterday indexes moved up and down in a narrow range. Shanghai continued its rally over government stimulus measures with a rise of 1.8 percent, and also led the Hong Kong shares up 0.8 percent. Tokyo and Seoul markets closed slightly lower as market was weighed down by the worries over the US rescue plan.

Asia's major markets including Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong closed higher on Wednesday after the US stocks rose on the positive economy data and progress on government's stimulus plan. Tokyo stocks opened lower Thursday as investor sentiment was dampened by bleak U.S. corporate earnings.