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Nikkei continues fall, Korea up
TOKYO, Monday -- Japan's market is continuing to fall Monday, wiping out early gains to end the morning session in the red. The Nikkei 225 is down 0.27 percent at 7795.49. Pessimism extends to the Topix, which is down 0.34 percent to 779.56. Japan's weak performance is in sharp contrast to South Korea, where the Kospi is about 2 percent higher. Other Asian markets are mainly weaker, with falls for Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and Taiwan, but a gain of more than 1 percent for New Zealand. Airlines across Asia are lower as the SARS virus talks its toll on passenger traffic. There are big falls for Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, China Airlines, China Eastern and China Southern. Tokyo's Nikkei, which lost more than five percent in the previous four sessions, finished last Friday at 7816.49, its lowest close since January 1983. Investors have turned their attention from Iraq to worries about the strength of U.S. consumer demand and the impact on Japan's export-driven economy. Both the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones industrial average finished lower on Wall Street on Friday. (Full story) Also weighing on the market in Japan is further selling by private pension funds. Big exporter Toyota, which touched a seven-year low last Friday, is down another 0.6 percent to 2485 yen at midday Monday. But consumer electronics leader Sony is up 1.33 percent to 3820 yen from Friday's multi-year low. Tech-related issues are mainly lower, with falls of 2.8 percent for NEC and 2.94 percent for the market's biggest stock, mobile phone company to NTT DoCoMo. In the banking sector, UFJ Holdings has dipped 2.91 percent to 100,000 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is off more than 3 percent to 189,000 yen. South Korea strongerIn South Korea, the Kospi is about 2 percent firmer at 594.4 near midday. SK Telecom is up sharply, putting on 5.78 percent to 183,000 won. Blue chips Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics are also higher. In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 is down 0.26 percent to 2941.4, with a further drop for leading bank NAB, down 1.18 percent to A$31.82. It fell more than 2 percent last Friday after warning that its full-year earnings were likely to be at the lower end of the range. Market heavyweight News Corp is up 3.47 percent to A$11.02. It sold its New Zealand newspaper business INL to rival publisher John Fairfax for $645 million. (Full story) New Zealand's Top 50 is 1.23 percent higher at 1983.95. Telecom NZ is leading the way, with a gain of 2.8 percent to NZ$4.75. Taiwan's Taix is down about 1.5 percent to 4463.09, with sharp falls for chip foundry TSMC and its smaller rival UMC. Singapore's Straits Times is about 1.36 percent lower. Banking leader DBS Group is down about 2.2 percent to S$8.85. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is off about 1.2 percent. Embattled airline Cathay Pacific is down 5.6 percent to HK$8.45 after it denied reports of a plan to shut down passenger operations because of the impact of the SARS virus. (Full story) PCCW is 1.1 percent lower at HK$4.50 after a bank refinancing deal on its Reach joint venture with Telstra was concluded. Big bank HSBC is down 1 percent to HK$82.25.
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