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Japan closes in the red
TOKYO, Japan -- Japan gave up early gains to close in the red Wednesday, despite a strong showing by banks. Most other Asian markets also slipped. Japanese tech issues were unable to hang onto rises in the wake of good results from world No. 2 personal computer maker Hewlett-Packard. The Nikkei 225 average finished 0.51 percent lower at 8018.51, reversing Tuesday's 0.25 percent rise that ended a three-day losing streak. The broader Topix index ended 0.55 percent down at 809.80. Big banks were up strongly, with a gain of almost 7.5 percent for Mizuho Financial Group, 6 percent for SMFG and 4 percent for UFJ. Japan's fifth-ranked bank Resona, which was forced to seek a government bailout at the weekend, rebounded almost 20 percent to 61 yen. On Tuesday, the central Bank of Japan eased monetary policy by lifting the target for banks' excess reserves. (Full story) On Wednesday, the BOJ issued a gloomy economic report for May, saying the outlook was clouded with uncertainty. (Full story) Elsewhere in the region, markets in Australia and New Zealand were up slightly -- 0.24 percent for the S&P/ASX200 and 0.18 percent for New Zealand's Top 50, despite a profit warning from big fund manager Tower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index put on 0.1 percent to 9059.80 while Singapore's shares ended at their lowest level of the month, dropping 0.65 percent. Taiwan's Taiex closed down 0.82 percent to 4216.64. South Korea's Kospi was down 0.25 percent to 600.57, with declines for Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor. In Tokyo, computer and chipmaker Hitachi finished 0.22 percent higher at 455 yen after HP reported quarterly results that beat expectations on Wall Street. NEC was 0.47 percent higher at 427 yen and Fujitsu closed steady at 348 yen. Toshiba was also flat at 319 yen. Sony rose 0.35 percent to 2900 yen. But Matsushita Electric Industrial lost 2.31 percent to 971 yen after it said it had halted operations at two of its plants in China because of SARS cases among local employees. Automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan all finished in the red. The market's biggest stock, mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, closed 0.78 percent lower at 255,000 yen. In Australia, blue chips showed some modest gains. Leading telco Telstra was up 0.92 percent to A$4.37. Resources group Rio Tinto and big bank NAB both closed flat, while CBA and Westpac rose. Market heavyweight News Corp finished down 0.73 percent to A$10.93. In Seoul, SK Telecom and Kookmin Bank were among a handful of gainers among blue chips. But Shinhan Financial Group lost 3.4 percent to 11,350 won. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index finished just into positive territory at 9059.80. There were slight gains for banking leader HSBC and conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. Telco China Mobile was flat. PCCW closed off 3.8 percent to HK$5.05 after a ratings downgrade. Cathay Pacific put on 0.53 percent to HK$9.40, and other airline stocks across the region were mixed after a warning from a regional airline group about the SARS impact. (Full story) Singapore's Straits Times index ended at 1,290.73, its lowest level this month. Singapore Airlines slid 1.6 percent while banks were mostly down. United Overseas Bank dipped 1.9 percent, and DBS lost 1.6 percent to S$9.10. Taiwan's biggest stock, TSMC, finished flat at T$48.00. Formosa Plastic was up 1.13 percent to T$44.70 and UMC put on 2 percent to T$19.70. In New Zealand, market heavyweight Telecom NZ closed 2.86 percent higher at NZ$5.04. The moves in Asia follow slight declines Tuesday on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average ended just 0.02 percent lower at 8491.36 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.11 percent to 1491.09. (Full story) On the currency front, the dollar is trading at 116.66 yen in Tokyo late on Wednesday.
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