Asian stocks take early dip

UFJ and other Japanese banks are down sharply on Thursday. Story Tools

(CNN) -- Japanese stocks are sharply lower in early trade Thursday, after OPEC's surprise decision to cut oil output saw a steep drop in U.S. markets.

The Nikkei 225 average is down 2.02 percent to 10,290.15, after putting on 0.26 percent on Wednesday.

The broader Topix index is down 2.33 percent at 1019.35.

Other markets in the region are heading down as well, with South Korea's Kospi losing about 3.2 percent and Australia's S&P/ASX200 off more than 1 percent.

Tech-related stocks are leading the Japanese declines, with consumer electronics giant Sony down 4.1 percent to 3980 yen and Canon also more than 4 percent lower.

Chip testing device maker Advantest Corp is down 2 percent to 6860 yen and Tokyo Electron off 2.5 percent to 7100 yen.

Big banks and carmakers are also weaker.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed on Wednesday to remove 900,000 barrels a day from supply limits for 10 members from November.

That saw markets tumble in the United States, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq losing 3.05 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average falling 1.57 percent. (Full story)

OPEC's move raised concerns that higher energy costs might stifle an economic rebound in the United States, which is Japan's top trading partner.

Japanese automakers are weaker, with falls of about 3 percent each for Toyota, Honda and Nissan. All three are big exporters to the U.S.

Tech-related issues Hitachi, Toshiba and NEC are also about 3 percent lower.

Tokyo's biggest stock, mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo, is down 1.75 percent to 280,000 yen.

Big bank Mizuho is off more than 7 percent to 218,000 yen and MTFG is down almost 5 percent to 646,000 yen.

In Australia, the market's biggest stock, media group News Corp, is down almost 3 percent to A$12.36. News makes most of its money in the U.S. market.

In South Korea, big exporter Hyundai Motor is down 4.6 percent to 32,700 won and Samsung Electronics is almost 3 percent lower to 393,000 won.

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