Markets in Asia were higher.

The Nikkei was up 1.7% to 15,874. Hitachi (HIT) was up 5.5% to 827. Honda (HMC) was up 2.4% to 3820. Yahoo Japan was down 2.5% to 53600.

The Hang Seng rose .7% to 29,559. China Petroleum (SNP) was up 3.8% to 12.62. China Netcom (CN) fell 2% to 24.6.

The Shanghai Composite fell .2% to 5,035.

Data from Reuters.

Douglas A. McIntrye