Asian Market Update: Scattered Buying Helps Markets Close Higher
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Time now to get a check on all the action of the Asian markets overnight. Dalton Tanonaka is standing by for us this morning. Hi -- Dalton.</s>DALTON TANONAKA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, David. Scattered buying helped most Asian markets close in positive territory to begin the trading week here. Seoul's had three consecutive losing sessions, but managed a slight gain today. Prospects of strong earnings helped insurance and auto stocks outperform the KOSPI. That index firmed 0.67 percent. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ edged up 0.33 percent. The country's leading phone company, Korea Telecom, switched up more than 1 percent, after announcing plans to enter the Japanese broadband market this summer. The company projects to make $83 million in sales in the first year. Oil and techs helped the Nikkei move slightly higher, but selling in the banking sector prevented any significant rally, the Tokyo blue chip index gaining 0.33 percent. And in Hong Kong, China plays gave some lift to the Hang Seng. It closed 0.5 percent firmer. One big gainer, newly listed Digital China: Investors piled into the distribution arm of Chinese PC maker Legend, to boot up its stock price more than 11 percent. Investors are banking on strong growth prospects. And that is the market day here in Asia. Back to you, David, in New York.</s>HAFFENREFFER: All right, Dalton, thank you very much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com