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Asian stocks sink into red
(CNN) -- Asian markets are sinking into the red at midday Friday, with Japan giving up early gains after a mixed performance on Wall Street but strong U.S. growth. The Nikkei 225 average is down 1.0 percent to 10,588.31 at the end of the morning session. The broader Topix is 0.92 percent lower to 1044.11. On Thursday, the Nikkei fell 0.41 percent, its first decline in five sessions. Markets in Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong are also in the red. But Singapore's Straits Times index is up 0.5 percent. In Tokyo, the dollar is trading at 108.79 yen, after touching a three-year low on Wednesday of 107.83 yen. Japanese exporter Sony is up after surprisingly strong growth in the U.S. economy underlined investor hopes for recovery in Japan's biggest export market. (Full story) Sony is ahead 1.85 percent to 3860 yen. But most other tech-related stocks such as Fujitsu, Toshiba, Canon and NEC Electronics have slipped into the red. Hitachi and NEC are steady. Among carmakers, Toyota and Honda are down, but Nissan is just in the black despite a recall announcement. (Full story) The market's biggest stock, NTT DoCoMo, is up 2.1 percent to 242,000 yen, after a fall of 1.6 percent the previous day. DoCoMo and rival KDDI reported strong first-half profits on Thursday. KDDI is down 3.66 percent to 605,000 yen. Big banks are sharply lower, with falls of 5.5 percent each for Mizuho and UFJ. The other two members of the big four, SMFG and MTFG, are both down about 4 percent. In Seoul, the Kospi index is down 0.94 percent to 778.64, led by declines for blue-chips SK Telecom, Samsung Electronics and big exporter Hyundai Motor. Leading bank Shinhan is down 2.5 percent to 17,250 won. In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 is off 0.12 percent to 3269.9. Transport group Patrick Corp is up 1.3 percent to A$14.55 after announcing a go-ahead for the float of airline Virgin Blue, in which it holds a 50 percent stake. (Full story) Resources leader BHP Billiton is 2.1 percent higher to A$11.68. Banks are mainly lower. Taiwan's Taiex, which closed Thursday at an 18-month high, is down 0.92 percent to 6051.79. The market's biggest stock, chip foundry TSMC, is 2.9 percent lower to T$67.50. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is 0.3 percent lower at 12,108.45. But leading bank HSBC is again higher, up 0.4 percent to HK$116.00. It is up 36 percent so far this year. In Singapore, there are gains for big bank DBS, along with Singapore Airlines and SingTel. The moves in Asia follow a mixed day for U.S. stocks Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average putting on 0.12 percent to 9786.61 but the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipping 0.2 percent to 1932.69. (Full story)
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