Asian Market Update: Trading Reduced for Holiday Observances
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It's time now to take a look at Asian markets. Dalton Tanonaka joins us now, from our studio in Hong Kong. Hi, Dalton.</s>DALTON TANONAKA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. It was a quiet day of trading around the Asia Pacific region, as most major markets here were closed for holiday observances. Tokyo traders were in a buying mood early in the day, but after lunch, the Nikkei slid into negative territory. But prices did rebound, to close the day .25 percent firmer for the Nikkei. It was a similar story in Seoul, where both the KOSPI and the KOSDAQ dipped into negative territory midday and closed up fractionally. The blue chip KOSPI edged up 1/3 percent. The tech- sensitive KOSDAQ picked up nearly .5 percent. There were no late-session buyers in Taiwan, and the Taipei Weighted index closed 2/3 percent weaker. The market there had seen a strong couple of days and gains totaling 3.5 percent, but worries about future earnings for chip stocks tempered any Friday rally. That's the limited market day here in Asia. Back to you, Christine, in New York.</s>ROMANS: You know, Dalton, I'm seeing here that it looks as though Japan is painting an even more downbeat picture of its economic growth. Tell us about that.</s>TANONAKA: Yes, the government made its monthly assessment, saying that the economy was dangerously close to sliding back into recession. It called the economy weakening. So there's a further sign that the Japanese economy is limping, Christine. And that's a good test for the prime minister candidates, who debated today mainly on the economy, as they seek to replace the outgoing prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, in elections later this month -- Christine.</s>ROMANS: OK, Dalton Tanonaka, in Hong Kong, thank you so 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