Asian Markets Overview of March 16

Sydney, Mar 16, 2009 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Most Asian markets jumped on Friday after an extended rally on Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei 225 soared 5.2% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 4.4% and Taiwan's Taiex rose 3.0%. But South Korea's Kospi and Shanghai Composite ended slightly lower on Friday.

Today the Asian markets include Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea opened higher following the upbeat sentiment in the US market. Nikkei was up by over 2% in early trade. China's Shanghai Composite opened lower but soon returned to the positive territory in early trade.

Asia Economy Watch

The Bank of Japan is considering purchasing subordinated debt issued by banks to help bolster their capital. It is reported that the Japanese central bank has already begun compiling measures to support banks' capital and may work on details within the month.

Company News

Fushan International Energy Group (HKG:0639), China's second-largest producer of coking coal, has tipped a turnaround in its full-year results for last year after the company posted an interim loss. The full-year earnings are likely to exceed the 2007 profit of 772 million yuan.

Indian power utility NTPC Ltd. (BOM:532555) plans to set up power projects in Kazakhstan to enable it to import coal from that country, said the chairman and managing director of NTPC.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (TYO:6503) and Pioneer Corp. (TYO:6773) have started negotiations to integrate the development, production and sales of their car satellite navigation systems and other in-vehicle devices, said market sources.

Kingston Technology Corp. will acquire a 5%-10% stake in Taiwan Memory Co., a memory chip company created by the Taiwan government, says a Taiwanese newspaper. Kingston's 10.4%-owned Powertech Technology Inc. (TPE:6239) may also invest in Taiwan Memory.

China Shenhua Energy Co., Ltd (SHG:601088)(HKG:1088) said the company sold 15 million tons of coal in February, down 20.6 percent on year and 22.28 percent on month. Coal output of China Shenhua in February increased 1.4 percent on year to 15 million tons, but down 14.77 percent on month.

China's Angang Steel Co. (SHG:000898)(HKG:0347), a subsidiary of Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corp. said the company aims to raise its production 25% this year. The steel maker is targeting production of 20 million metric tons of steel in 2009, up from 16 million tons last year.

Contact

Michelle Liang Asia Business News Asia Bureau Tel: +61-2-9247-4344 Email: michelle.liang@abnnewswire.net