■ Stocks
NIKKEI jumps to 5-year high
Japanese stocks climbed to a fresh five-year high yesterday as investors snapped up technology and exporter blue chips following Wall Street's gains last week and encouraged by the dollar's strength against the yen. The benchmark NIKKEI 225 index gained 90.55 points, or 0.55 percent, to finish the day's trading at 16,551.23 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange -- the NIKKEI's highest closing since Sept. 4, 2000. As of last week, the market had already recouped all its losses from mid-month sell-off triggered by the investigation into Internet startup Livedoor Co. The broader TOPIX index of all shares on the first section added 13.96 points, or 0.83 percent, at 1,704.28. The TOPIX gained 47.03 points, or 3.27 percent, on Friday. Sentiment got a lift from New York's stock market on Friday, when the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.9 percent to 10,907.21 on strong earnings reports. The stronger US dollar also lifted Japanese stocks because it inflates exporters' overseas earnings when repatriated to Japan.
■ Economy
UK fraud hits 10-year high
The value of fraudulent transactions in the UK nearly tripled last year to ?942 million (US$1.68 billion), up from ?329 million, accounting firm KPMG said yesterday. The government was the biggest victim, defrauded of ?447 million, for example as a result of tax evasion and fraud involving value added tax (VAT) and social benefits. "Companies and individuals need to be more watchful than ever," said Jeremy Outen, a partner at KPMG Forensic. Fraud committed last year was the highest since 1995, which registered ?1.2 billion in such transactions, and the second-highest recorded since KPMG Forensic's Fraud Barometer started in 1990.
■ Employment
Jobless rate soars in S Korea
The number of South Koreans on the dole increased 20 percent year-on-year last year to an all-time high of some 560,000 owing to a surge in unemployment, the labor ministry said on Sunday. The number of jobless seeking state allowances totaled 565,753 last year, up 19.9 percent from 471,542 reported in 2004 and the highest since the data was recorded, the ministry said. The figure topped 430,000 in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, before declining to between 200,000 and 300,000 from 1999 to 2003. It began rebounding to top 400,000 in 2004. Laid-off workers can receive unemployment benefits, which is usually equal to half their average wage, for up to eight months while looking for new jobs under labor laws. The jobless rate jumped to a four-year high of 3.7 percent last year, according to the National Statistical Office.
■ Computers
Dell to add jobs in India
US computer maker Dell Inc said yesterday that it planned to add 5,000 jobs in India over the next two years, bringing its work force in the country to 15,000. At least 1,000 of workers will staff a new call center on the outskirts of New Delhi, the company's chief executive, Kevin Rollins said. The call center -- the company's fourth in India -- is to be opened in April, he said. The other new hires will staff call centers in the southern cites of Bangalore of Hyderabad and one in the northern state of Punjab, Rollins said. The company also plans to add staff at its product testing center in Bangalore. He added that the company is looking into setting up a manufacturing facility in India.
RSS