AsiaPulse News articles from April 2003

AsiaPulse News archives from April 2003

STOCKS - DSE TRADELESS - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, Apr 1 Asia Pulse - The Delhi Stock Exchange remained tradeless today and registered "zero" business volume as most of the market players carried out their transactions on other leading exchanges of the country. With no trading...

STOCKS - BSE UP - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... MUMBAI, Apr 1 Asia Pulse - Bolstered by an unexpected bout of buying spree, stocks made a remarkable turnaround pushing the sensex up by 32 points at close in a roller-coaster ride on the Stock Exchange today even as mounting concerns over Iraq...

AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... SYDNEY, April 1 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers: THE AUSTRALIAN - US ground forces begin engaging Republican Guards holding fort at Baghdad. Iraqi "Dad's Army" holding the thin grey line around Baghdad. Federal Opposition...

FOREX - AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR OPENS SLIGHTLY HIGHER - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... SYDNEY, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Australian dollar opened broadly unchanged compared to yesterday's close as continued concerns about the timeframe for the war in Iraq weighed on the US dollar. At 0700 AEST, the Australian dollar was at...

AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL CABINET TO DISCUSS WAR, AIR TICKET LEVY TODAY.
April 1, 2003... CANBERRA, April 1 Asia Pulse - Whilst the war in Iraq should dominate a federal cabinet meeting today, the future of the Ansett levy could also be decided. Cabinet ministers will meet in Canberra immediately after Prime Minister John...

AUSTRALIAN INTEREST RATES EXPECTED TO REMAIN STEADY.
April 1, 2003... CANBERRA, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board is expected to keep interest rates steady when it meets today for the first time since war in Iraq began. It would be the 10th consecutive month interest rates would...

KOREAN AUTO PARTS RECEIVE TOP AVERAGE POINTS FROM BUYERS: KOTRA.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - Korean automobile parts received the highest average points from U.S. buyers when measured in quality, pricing, after service and delivery time, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said. KOTRA...

KOREAN OIL COMPANIES TO LOWER PRICES AS OF TODAY.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - Korean oil companies said they will lower domestic prices by 10-20 won (US$0.01-US$0.02) per liter as of today. SK Gas (KSE:18670), LG-Caltex Oil (KSE:17940) and Hyundai Oil Bank said they were lowering prices...

CREDITORS OF KOREA'S SK GLOBAL TO HOLD COMMITTEE MEETING TODAY.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - Creditors of SK Global Co. (KSE:01740) said they will convene a steering committee meeting today, to review measures taken to gauge the general condition of embattled trading company, A spokesperson for creditor...

BANK OF KOREA TO ISSUE US$3.2 BLN IN LONG-TERM BONDS.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Bank of Korea (BOK) said it will issue 4 trillion won (US$3.2 billion) in long-term monetary stabilization bonds to prevent domestic interest rates from falling off. The bonds will be released starting this...

INDIA'S NEW LOOK EXIM POLICY TO BOOST SERVICE, AGRI EXPORTS.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - In a watershed EXIM policy, the Indian government announced a major package for exports of services, with a special focus on high growth sectors like textiles, automobiles, gems and jewellery, and has dismantled...

NEW INDIAN POLICY WANTS CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF AGRI-EXPORT ZONES.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The new Exim policy for the new fiscal has called for a major thrust in agri-exports zones (AEZs) with increased participation of the corporate sector and concessions in duty drawback schemes. Sanction has...

SARS COULD COST TAIWAN'S TOURISM SECTOR US$242.85 MLN.
April 1, 2003... TAIPEI, April 1 Asia Pulse - If the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) continues to affect Taiwan until the end of year, the effect on the nation's tourism will be very serious, according to the latest assessment by the Cabinet-level...

TAIWAN VICE MINISTER ATTENDS WTO SYMPOSIUM IN BEIJING.
April 1, 2003... BEIJING, April 1 Asia Pulse - Taiwan Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Ruey-long attended a World Trade Organization (WTO) symposium on Asia-Pacific trade policies in Beijing. The symposium, attended by senior officials from 22 WTO...

TAIWAN PREMIER WANTS OUTLYING ISLANDS' CASINO ISSUE RESOLVED.
April 1, 2003... TAIPEI, April 1 Asia Pulse - Premier Yu Shyi-kun made an about-face and asked Cabinet agencies to move forward with possible legislation regarding the legalization of casinos on Taiwan's offshore counties. Yu had previously instructed his...

SHIPPING LINKS BETWEEN TAIWAN'S MATSU, CHINA SUSPENDED.
April 1, 2003... TAIPEI, April 1 Asia Pulse - Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen annouced Monday the suspension of direct shipping links between Taiwan's frontline island of Matsu and mainland China because of the severe acute respiratory syndrome...

INDIA HOPES TO CATAPULT EXPORTS THROUGH SEZs.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Indian government will treat sales from Domestic Tariff Area to Special Economic Zones as exports in a bid to attract more foreign direct investment which could turn out to be an engine of growth. ...

INDIAN EXIM POLICY DOES NOT DECANALISE IMPORT OF PETROL, DIESEL.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - Oil majors aspiring to tap into the world's seventh largest retail oil market worth US$15 billion a year in sales through imported transport fuels were let down by India's Export Import Policy for 2003-04 that...

TAIWAN'S TSU CALLS FOR RESTRICTIONS ON CROSS-STRAIT TRAVEL.
April 1, 2003... TAIPEI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The opposition Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) has called for restrictions on travel between mainland China and Taiwan to contain the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and to protest Beijing's...

HIGHLIGHTS OF INDIA'S NEW EXIM POLICY.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - Following are the highlights of Exim Policy released Monday: * Duty free import for services with forex earnings of at least Rs 1 million. * Corporates encouraged to sponsor agri-export zones. *...

TAIWAN'S CPC SAYS ITS PETROLEUM PRICE WILL NOT CHANGE FOR NOW.
April 1, 2003... TAIPEI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC) said that the price of domestic petroleum will remain unchanged for the time being for the sake of stabilizing domestic oil and commodity prices. CPC officials said...

INDIA'S NASSCOM MAY SERVE AS "REFERRAL POINT" FOR VISA MATTERS.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - Against a backdrop of recent swoops on Indian IT professionals abroad, the National Association of Software Services Companies (Nasscom) will explore the possibility of serving as an "independent referral point"...

RUPEE RISE WILL NOT AFFECT INDIA'S EXPORT GROWTH: MINISTER.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - India's Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley expressed confidence that the appreciation in the Rupee against the US dollar will not hinder export growth, which is likely to accelerate next fiscal after having overshot...

INDIA'S TCIL PROPOSES IPO, PLANS TO OFFLOAD 25% STAKE.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - State-owned Telcommunications Consultants India Ltd is planning to go for an Initial Public Offering for offloading 25 per cent stake in domestic market, subject to Government nod. "We wish to go for an IPO,...

INDIA CONFIDENT OF ACHIEVING US$50 BLN EXPORTS THIS YEAR.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - India exuded confidence that its merchandise exports would cross US$50 billion in this financial year, notwithstanding the fluid situation in West Asia amidst fears of prolonged war on Iraq. "It is almost...

ANTI-VAT TRADE BAN IN INDIA EVOKES MIXED RESPONSE, HITS BUSINESS.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The nation-wide two-day ban by Indian traders against the introduction of the much touted Value Added Tax (VAT) evoked a mixed response on its opening day yesterday. The "Bharat Bandh" was claimed to have...

INDIA'S BIS ASKED TO OUTLINE TEST METHODS FOR WATER STANDARDS.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Indian Consumer Affairs Ministry has asked the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to constitute a commitee of experts to specify the test methods to be followed by laboratories while testing bottled and...

HONG KONG IMPOSES VISA RESTRICTIONS ON PAKISTANIS.
April 1, 2003... KARACHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - Hong Kong has imposed visa restrictions on all Pakistanis visiting for business or other purpose, travel agents revealed on Saturday. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has circulated on its reservation...

PAKISTAN EXPORTS SEAFOOD WORTH $87 MLN IN JULY-FEB 2002-03.
April 1, 2003... KARACHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - Pakistan exported 56,000 tonnes of seafood worth $87 million during July-February 2002-03, as compared to 56,000 tonnes valued at $88 million in the same period of 2001-02, decline of 1.5 per cent. However,...

LENDERS TO INDIA'S STRICKEN DABHOL POWER CO TO MEET IN SINGAPORE.
April 1, 2003... MUMBAI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The high powered steering committee of Indian and foreign lenders to the beleagured Dabhol Power Company (DPC) will meet for two days in Singapore, beginning April 1, to discuss and sort out differences over the...

INDIAN GUIDELINES FOR BUYBACK OF G-SECS FROM BANKS SOON.
April 1, 2003... NEW DELHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Indian government will soon come out with detailed guidelines for buying back high-cost securities worth over Rs 400 billion (US$8.4 billion) from banks and financial institutions during 2003-04, as part of...

KOREA TO RESTRICT IMPORTED TOBACCO SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - Tougher restrictions will be imposed on imported tobacco substitute products starting next year, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said today. The ministry said it was in the process of removing loopholes in...

GREENS CALL ON THAILAND TO BAN ALL IMPORTS OF TOXIC WASTE.
April 1, 2003... CEBU CITY, April 1 Asia Pulse - Greenpeace and the Basel Action Network (BAN), an international coalition of non-governmental environmental organizations working to halt toxic trade, have called on Thailand to ban the import of all toxic wastes...

STOCKS - AUSTRALIAN STOCKS OPEN SOFTER - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... SYDNEY, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Australian stock market was weaker at the open, amid continuing doubts about the progress of war in Iraq and a fall in AMP. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was 12.5 points lower at 2872.7 by 1020 AEST, and...

INDIA'S TCS LINKS WITH SWISS FIRM CANOO ENGINEERING.
April 1, 2003... KOLKATA, April 1 Asia Pulse - Tata Consultancy Services said today it has entered into a partnership with Swiss software firm Canoo Engineering AG, which will enable TCS's customers to profit from Canoo's sophisticated Java thin client...

INDIAN BANKS ASKED TO ADHERE TO ACCOUNTING STANDARD NORMS.
April 1, 2003... MUMBAI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to follow amended guidelines for preparing financial statements from the accounting year ending March 31, 2003, to eliminate the gap in compliance with accounting standards....

AUSTRALIA'S PATRICK, VIRGIN GROUP IN DISPUTE OVER ASX LISTING.
April 1, 2003... SYDNEY, April 1 Asia Pulse - A dispute has erupted between Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Patrick Corp Ltd (ASX:PRK) over how they would float Virgin Blue, raising doubts about the timing of a sharemarket listing. The Australian...

PAKISTAN TO MAINTAIN NEGATIVE LIST FROM AFGHAN TRADE AGREEMENT.
April 1, 2003... ISLAMABAD, April 1 Asia Pulse - Pakistan has refused to abolish the remaining 16 items on the negative list from the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA), sources in the Finance Ministry told reporters. The issue, they said, came under...

1.9 MLN TONNE RICE EXPORT TARGET SET BY PAKISTAN FOR 2003-04.
April 1, 2003... KARACHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Export Promotion Bureau has set a rice export target of around 1.9 million tonnes, valued at around US$575 million, for the year 2003-04. This was decided in a meeting, chaired by EPB Chairman Tariq Ikram,...

BANKS, ROADS, SOCIAL SECTOR AID FOCUS OF PAKISTAN, AFGHAN TALKS.
April 1, 2003... ISLAMABAD, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Ministerial Commission (PAJMC) in Kabul discussed the establishment of a commercial banking system in Afghanistan, road links and social sector assistance on Saturday afternoon....

JAPANESE MORNING NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Highlights of the morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) today: - Sliding Shares Hammer Banks, Life Insurers At Year-End - Bank of Kansai Eyes Merger With Kansai Sawayaka Bank - Fujitsu,...

JAPAN'S TERUMO REPORTS 21% JUMP IN GRP NET PROFIT.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Terumo Corp. (TSE:4543) announced that for the year ended March it expects to report a 21 per cent increase in group net profit to 17.5 billion yen (US$148 million). The company earlier forecast a profit of 21...

JAPAN'S SOSEI, U.S. BIOTECH FIRM TO DEVELOP ALLERGY MEDICATION.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Sosei Co. plans to jointly develop an allergy medicine with U.S. biotechnology firm Abgenix Inc. Sosei obtained the rights to develop antibodies that will fight a protein called CRTH2, a novel receptor related...

JAPAN'S ECC TO TEACH TRADITIONAL COMEDY PERFORMANCES IN ENGLISH.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - The foreign language school ECC will begin a new course in Osaka this month on how to perform rakugo, or traditional Japanese comedy routines, in English. Kaishi Katsura, a rakugo performer who pioneered the...

JAPAN'S NIPPON STEEL, KOBE STEEL TO MERGE PROCESSING UNITS.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Nippon Steel Corp. (TSE:5401) and Kobe Steel Ltd. (TSE:5406) said that they plan to merge affiliates that handle processing of steel materials. The move is part of a comprehensive cooperation plan between the...

JAPAN'S KOMATSU TO SCRAP SENIORITY-BASED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Komatsu Ltd. (TSE:6301) will on Tuesday abolish its seniority-based promotion program for managers and introduce a system that rewards them based on job site responsibilities and performance. The new system will...

JAPAN'S SANKYO SETS UP FUND FOR US START-UPS WITH INVESTMENT CO.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Pharmaceuticals company Sankyo Co. (TSE:4501) announced the establishment of a fund for start-ups in the U.S. with investment company Thomas Weisel Partners LLC. The total investment amount is expected to reach...

INDONESIAN NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... JAKARTA, April 1 Asia Pulse - Highlights from today's newspapers: THE JAKARTA POST - Indonesia has intensified measures against possible outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) amid increasing fatalities across the world...

LODESTAR CORPORATION TO ACQUIRE UTILITY SOLUTIONS OF AUSTRALIA.
April 1, 2003... $all $anr $us $aus $enr $utl (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) PEABODY, Mass., March 31 PRNewswire-AsiaNet - LODESTAR Corporation, the leading global provider of software solutions for the energy industry, announced that...

FLAG TELECOM DOUBLES CAPACITY OF KEY SEGMENTS OF THE FLAG EUROPE.
April 1, 2003... $all $anr $uk $eur $tel (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) LONDON, March 31 PRNewswire-FirstCall-Asianet - FLAG Telecom Group Limited(OTC: FTGLF.PK) (the "Company" or "FLAG Telecom") today announced a capacity expansion...

JAPAN'S SUMITOMO METAL EXPANDING TAILORED BLANK PROCESSING.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. (TSE:5405) is expanding its business that simultaneously welds steel sheets of different thickness and strength. Known as tailored blank processing, the technology is used in...

MERIAL AND ASPENBIO SIGN GLOBAL PACT.
April 1, 2003... $all $anr $us $eur $dru $tec (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) CASTLE ROCK, Colo., and DULUTH, Ga., March 31 - PRNewswire-FirstCall-AsiaNet - AspenBio, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: APNB) and Merial Limited announced today...

CALIFORNIA MICRO DEVICES INTRODUCES USB TRANSCEIVER FOR MOBILES.
April 1, 2003... $all $anr $us $tec $ele $com (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) MILPITAS, Calif., March 31 PRNewswire-FirstCall-AsiaNet - California Micro Devices (Nasdaq: CAMD) today announced the CM2400-01, a new USB (Universal Serial...

CHARLES RIVER CERTIFIES FIX CONNECTIVITY IN ASIA-PACIFIC AND JAPAN.
April 1, 2003... $all $anr $bnk $eur $jp $ivm $com (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) SINGAPORE, April 1 PRNewswire-AsiaNet - Charles River Development, a provider of financial software and consulting services to the global investment...

W.P. STEWART ANNOUNCES MANAGEMENT CHANGE IN US MARKETING TEAM.
April 1, 2003... $all $anr $us $pub $bnk (Full text of statement. Contact details below.) HAMILTON, Bermuda, March 31 PRNewswire-FirstCall-AsiaNet - W.P. Stewart & Co., Ltd. ("W.P. Stewart" or the "Company") announced today that Barton H. Buxbaum has...

INDONESIA'S MATAHARI PUTRA PRIMA POSTS FY NET PROFIT OF US$105 MLN.
April 1, 2003... JAKARTA, April 1 Asia Pulse - Publicly listed retail company PT Matahari Putra Prima (JSE:MPPA) posted a net profit of Rp105 billion (US$105 million) last year up slightly from Rp101 billion in the previous year despite a decline in sales. ...

JAPAN'S ALPS ELEC SEES FY02 GROUP NET PROFIT SURGE 770 PCT.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Alps Electric Co. (TSE:6770) said Monday that it expects to post a 16.5 billion yen (US$139.5 million) group net profit for the fiscal year ended Monday, up 770 per cent from the year before and 2 billion yen higher...

JAPAN'S HUDSON TAKES A STAB AT MMORPG ONLINE GAME MARKET.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Hudson Soft Co. (TSE:4822) is entering the market for what are known as massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG). The company has already begun a free trial service to iron out the bugs and plans...

JAPAN'S CASIO ESTABLISHES SHANGHAI SALES JV WITH MITSUBISHI.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Casio Computer Co. (TSE:6952) announced Monday that it has set up a sales firm in Shanghai, China, as a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corp. (TSE:8058). The new company is capitalized at 1 million dollars, of...

JAPAN'S NIHON UNISYS, INDIAN FIRM TIE UP IN SYSTEMS OUTSOURCING.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Nihon Unisys Ltd. (TSE:8056) is teaming up with Indian systems development and administration firm Mascot Systems Ltd. to start an application software outsourcing service. Mascot Systems develops and maintains...

JAPAN'S EPS TO SEND PHARMACISTS TO DRUG FIRMS TO MONITOR TESTING.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Drug-testing outsourcing firm EPS Co. (TSE:4282) plans to begin a new business in April of dispatching its employees to work as temporary personnel at drug manufacturers. At the drug companies, the EPS employees...

THAI NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... BANGKOK, April 1 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers: THE BANGKOK POST - TPI Polene's giant 714.7-million-share public offering has failed to reach the minimum threshold of $180 million. - Thailand is moving strenuously...

JAPAN'S TOEI BOOSTS EFFORTS TO DISTRIBUTE MOVIES DIGITALLY.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Toei Co. (TSE:9605) is expanding its efforts to distribute films to theaters by digital means. It is raising the number of cinema complexes that can accommodate digitized films, cutting the cost of distributing...

JAPAN'S MHI TO SET UP NEW DEFENSE SYSTEMS OFFICE IN SPACE UNIT.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (TSE:7011) will set up a new integrated defense systems office inside its Space Business Unit on April 1. The Defense Agency has integrated the operations of the Ground, Maritime...

AUSTRALIA'S NOVERA GETS FUNDING FOR UK LANDFILL GAS EXPANSION.
April 1, 2003... PERTH, April 1 Asia Pulse - Renewable energy company Novera Energy Ltd (ASX:NVE) will be able to go ahead with its 18 megawatt expansion of its landfill gas to energy business in the United Kingdom now that is has secured debt funding. The...

ORIENT WATCH TO LOSE TSE LISTING DUE TO NEGATIVE NET WORTH.
April 1, 2003... TOKYO, April 1 Asia Pulse - Orient Watch Co. (TSE:7764) said Monday that it is giving up hope of staying listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In fiscal 2002, the watchmaker appears to have fallen into negative net worth for the fourth...

KOREAN GOVT CONSIDERS EARLIER START TIME FOR DAILY FOREX MARKET.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - The government is considering the possibility of changing the starting time for foreign exchange transactions from the current 9:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. A ranking official at the Ministry of Finance and Economy...

PAKISTAN PUSHES FOR EARLY COMPLETION OF PESTICIDE POLICY.
April 1, 2003... ISLAMABAD, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Minister for Industries and Production, Liaquat Ali Jatoi has asked the Expert Advisory Cell (EAC) to expedite work on pesticide industrial policy, which shall encourage the investors for setting up of local...

PAKISTAN'S SHIPPING LINES TO RAISE BUNKER CHARGES TODAY.
April 1, 2003... KARACHI, April 1 Asia Pulse - The shipping lines calling at the Karachi and Qasim ports have increased bunker charges to US$95 per 20 feet container and US$190 per 40 feet container with effect from today. This is a second rise in bunker...

STOCKS - KOREAN STOCKS BEGIN SOFTER - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - South Korean stocks opened weaker early Tuesday due to speculations that an intensified war in Iraq could be much longer than forecast. Opening 6.64 point lower than Monday's close, the benchmark Korea Composite...

FOREX - US$ OPENS WEAKER AGAINST KOREAN WON - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - The U.S. dollar weakened against the Korean won early Tuesday due to the yen' sharp rise versus it. Opening 4.50 won lower at 1,250.10 won, the greenback rose to 1,252.50 won before pulling back to 1,252 won at...

US COURT TO RULE ON TAUBMAN BID BY WESTFIELD AMERICA TRUST.
April 1, 2003... SYDNEY, April 1 Asia Pulse - A key court judgement will decide the outcome of a joint hostile takeover bid by Westfield America Trust (ASX:WFA) for Michigan-based Taubman Centers Inc. Westfield and and its joint bidder Simon Property Group...

AUSTRALIA'S GYMPIE GOLD SET TO BOOK RECORD PRODUCTION IN MARCH.
April 1, 2003... BRISBANE, April 1 Asia Pulse - Gympie Gold Ltd's (ASX:GYM) Hunter Valley coking coal operation is hoping to book record production in March. After five disappointing months mining the 100-year-old Greta seam in the Hunter Valley, Gympie...

KOREAN CARMAKERS SHOULD ADOPT NEW EUROPEAN STRATEGIES: KAMA.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - Korean carmakers are required to adopt new sales strategies for Europe, where their sales and market shares are sluggish, the Korean Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) said Tuesday. According to the...

CREDITORS OF KOREA'S SK GLOBAL TO FILE SUIT AGAINST YOUNGWHA.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - Creditors of SK Global (KSE:01740) are likely to file a reparations suit against accounting firm Youngwha Corporation for failing to uncover fraudulent bookkeeping by the ailing firm in 2001, an informed source said...

SHARES IN AUSTRALIA'S CSR STEADY AFTER SPLIT.
April 1, 2003... BRISBANE, April 1 Asia Pulse - Shares in CSR Ltd (ASX:CSR) are holding ground in a weak market as speculators swarm in after the industrial conglomerate split in two. More than 99 per cent of CSR shareholders voted in favour of CSR...

KOREAN FIRMS ISSUE WARNINGS AGAINST SARS.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - Amid the rapid spread of the mystery pneumonia-like disease called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China and Hong Kong, local firms have advised their employees not to travel to affected areas, business...

AUSTRALIA REALISES WAR WILL BE EXPENSIVE: TREASURER.
April 1, 2003... CANBERRA, April 1 Asia Pulse - Australian Treasurer Peter Costello has today admitted the war commitment would be very expensive and is making budget estimates difficult. Mr Costello said formulating this year's Budget was hard, given...

STOCKS - AUSTRALIAN STOCKS STRONGER AT NOON - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... SYDNEY, April 1 Asia Pulse - Banks led the charge as the Australian stock market strengthened at midday following a weak opening. The market had gotten off to a slower start amid ongoing concerns over the progress of war in Iraq and a fall...

AUSTRALIA'S MANUFACTURING SECTOR STEADY IN MARCH.
April 1, 2003... SYDNEY, April 1 Asia Pulse - Australia's manufacturing sector is performing steadily, holding up well in the early part of the war with industrial based sectors supporting the market, figures released today showed. The Australian Industry...

FOREX - AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR FIRMER AT NOON - APRIL 1, 2003.
April 1, 2003... SYDNEY, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Australian dollar was stronger to noon, but after firming on the back of demand from Asia, it softened slightly heading into midday. At 1200 AEST, the Australian dollar was at $US0.6044/49 compared with...

AUSTRALIA'S SIMS GP GAINS WINDFALL FROM US SALE.
April 1, 2003... SYDNEY, April 1 Asia Pulse - Metals recycler Sims Group Ltd (ASX:SMS) today has gained from the sale of its Southern Californian operations, with earnings up and cash freed up. The sale, for an undisclosed sum, was to Pacific Coast...

KOREA'S FSS TO INSPECT 41 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN Q2.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Tuesday it has targeted 41 local financial institutions for inspection within the second quarter. The institutions include 14 banks and some of their overseas...

58 PCT OF KOREAN FIRMS HAVE NO RECRUITING PLAN IN 2ND QUARTER.
April 1, 2003... SEOUL, April 1 Asia Pulse - The mounting uncertainty about the economy at home and abroad has prompted local companies to scale down or scrap plans to employ new workers in the second quarter of this year, according to a survey released...