Selloff leaves Asia in the red
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Market heavyweight NTT DoCoMo closed 2 percent lower in Tokyo.
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(CNN) -- Asian markets have closed broadly lower Tuesday, giving back the bulk of the previous day's gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 share average lost 2 percent.
Investors were in a selling mood in Asia, a day after enthusiasm at the capture of Saddam Hussein lifted the Nikkei by almost 3.2 percent to its highest close in five weeks.
South Korea's market, which rose 2 percent Monday, finished down almost 1.4 percent and Australia slipped 1 percent.
The selloff came after Wall Street gave up early gains to finish lower Monday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq losing almost 1.6 percent. After the close, Oracle beat estimates with its second-quarter results.
The Dow eased about 0.2 percent, after a temporary buying spurt on news the U.S. had caught the ousted Iraqi leader. (Full story)
Analysts say the U.S. market's reaction suggested Tokyo had overestimated the likely impact on the U.S. economy, Japan's biggest export market.
The dollar was virtually unchanged in Tokyo late in the day, trading at 107.67 yen. The euro is at a record high of $1.2334, and the Australian dollar is continuing to trade at six-year highs of 74.37 U.S. cents.
Exporters were among the decliners in Tokyo, with consumer electronics leader Sony down 3 percent to 3580 yen. Camera and copier maker Canon also fell 3 percent to 4850 yen.
Techs and big banks were also lower after Monday's hefty gains. UFJ Holdings, which rose 9 percent Monday, ended down 4.9 percent to 467,000 yen.
Among automakers, Honda fell 3.2 percent and Nissan lost 2.6 percent.
The Nikkei 225 finished down 2.09 percent to 10,271.60, while the broader Topix was down 1.77 percent at 1004.82. The market's biggest stock, NTT DoCoMo, fell 2.1 percent to 226,000 yen.
In Seoul, the Kospi lost 1.38 percent to 810.79, with Samsung Electronics more than 1.5 percent lower to 454,000 won. Big exporter Hyundai Motor gave up early gains to close 0.6 percent down at 49,700 won.
In Australia the S&P/ASX200 was 1.0 percent lower to 3215.2. News Corp. ended down 3.3 percent to A$11.65 and resources giant BHP Billiton was also sold off, losing 3.4 percent to A$11.58.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is 1 percent lower to 12,393.45 near the close. Big bank HSBC is down 0.4 percent to HK$119.00.
Taiwan's Taiex finished 0.62 percent lower to 5887.23. Chip foundries TSMC and UMC were both in the red, down 3.1 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.
Singapore's Straits Times index is down 1.1 percent to 1724.08 heading towards the close. DBS Bank is losing 2 percent and there are also falls for SingTel and Singapore Airlines.
New Zealand's Top 50 was off 0.57 percent to 2393.14. Telecom NZ ended 1.3 percent lower to NZ$5.12.
