Techs drag Asian markets down
 |
Techs and big exporters including carmakers closed lower in Tokyo.
Story Tools
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
|
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.
Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
|
|
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Asian stocks fell sharply Wednesday, with Tokyo Electron and other techs hit after lukewarm sales from Taiwan's two big chip makers sent the Nasdaq to its biggest percentage decline in seven weeks.
The dollar crawled higher against the yen after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates at 40-year lows of 1.0 percent, as expected, and edged up against the euro as investors took profit after it hit a record high on Tuesday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed down 2.11 percent to 9910.56 as the strong yen hurt exporters such as Canon and Nissan Motor, which each sank around three percent.
At one stage the Nikkei dropped to 9,859.00, its lowest in two-and-a-half weeks.
The broader Topix fell 1.69 percent to 980.58.
"The drop in U.S. semiconductor stocks has played a big role in pushing the Nikkei below 10,000," said Hiroaki Kuramochi, the head of global equities at Credit Lyonnais.
"And when you see the yen moving into the 106 to the dollar territory, even with wariness about intervention, it creates a lot of uncertainty regarding forex, and that is really pressuring techs and other exporters."
Taiwan shares fell 0.9 percent and Australia was down 0.2 percent. South Korea bucked the trend, rising 0.9 percent as investors snapped up battered techs such as technology bellwether Samsung Electronics, which climbed 1.8 percent.
Near the close, Singapore was flat, while Hong Kong was down 0.3 percent.
Disappointing November sales from the world's top two contract microchip makers, Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp and rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co drove the tech-heavy Nasdaq down just over two percent. The strong U.S. reaction took many by surprise.
The Dow fell 0.4 percent to 9,923.42 after briefly rising above 10,000 points in the morning for the first time since May 2002.
TSMC and UMC shares closed down more than three percent after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled 4.12 percent.
Tokyo Electron, the world's second-largest maker of chip-making equipment, fell 4.2 percent and Japan's top chip-testing equipment maker, Adventest Corp, sank more than five percent.
A widening current account deficit and simmering violence in Iraq continued to weigh on the dollar.
The dollar was up to 107.35 yen late in the Tokyo day, compared with 107.00 in late U.S. trade.
It hit a three-year low of 106.74 yen in New York.
The euro stood at $1.2208 against a record high of $1.2276 set in London on Tuesday.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
