Tokyo  - Stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday in Tokyo amid a wait-and-see mood among investors ahead of corporate earnings reports and forecasts.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average inched up 7.62 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 7,881.6.

The broader Topix index of all first section issues was also up 0.87 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 778.72.

Tokyo players moved to buy some shares battered during the previous day, but gains were limited because of pessimistic earnings outlooks of Japanese firms.

The Sensex continued to trade weak due to sustained selling action witnessed in index pivotals.
 
In addition to weak worldwide markets, weak earnings from India Inc and lower economic data have also contributed to today’s downfall.

Realty stocks were severely hit followed by metal and banking stocks.

Merchandise exports from India shrunk 1% in December, 2008 and stood at $12.7 billion, as against $ 12.82 billion during the corresponding period of the last year.

Bangkok  - Southeast Asia Energy Ltd, a Thai-owned hydropower project in Laos, is preparing to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand later this year, media reports said Monday.

Ch Karnchang, a Thai construction firm that owns the plant, is seeking a financial adviser for helping with the listing, which would become the first such cross-border listing of a company from Indochina on the Thai bourse, The Nation newspaper reported.

The company needs funding to complete the Nam Ngum II hydropower plant. The plant on the Nam Ngum River, a major tributary of the Mekong, is to generate 615 megawatts of electricity to be sold to Thailand.

The Bangkok bourse has a target to attract at least 40 firms from Indochina - Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks ended Monday morning trading lower as Japanese companies reported gloomy earnings results and downward revisions of full-year earnings projections.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average edged down 38.3 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 7,955.75.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was down 8.63 points, or 1.09 per cent, to 785.4.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar traded at 89.67-72 yen, up from Friday's 5 pm quote of 89.49-52 yen.

The 30-share index Sensex gained 749.89 points to 9,424.24 during the week ended January 30, 2009, while the broad based NSE Nifty soared 196.25 points to 2,874.80 in the same period.
 
Indian equities, which posted sturdy gains on three of the four trading sessions, showed strong performance after three successive weeks of losses.

The market got well during the week on account of positive global signals and some reasonably good numbers from India Inc.

Damascus  - Syria's first stock exchange, which is currently operating in pilot trading, will be officially launched on March 9, media reports said on Friday.

The official news agency SANA reported that interim operations of the Damascus Securities Exchange included five large Syrian companies - the International Bank for Trade and Finance, Bank of Syria and Overseas, Arab Bank-Syria, Banque Bemo Saudi-French, and Al-Ahliah Company for Transport.