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Asia weakens on tech selloff
By Alex Frew McMillan
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian stocks closed lower on Thursday, taking their cue from U.S. counterparts. But the falls were modest, with only South Korea seeing a sharp downturn. Korean shares lost 3.27 percent, taking the Kospi down to 630.40 and wiping out virtually all the gains seen in the market so far this year. Japan's Nikkei average ended down 0.23 percent at 8,497.93, with declines in some technology stocks, carmakers and banks. The broader Topix index was flat, falling just 0.03 percent to 839.33. Australia lost about a third of a percent, and New Zealand closed just in the red, off 0.07 percent. Taiwan, which has shown a strong start to the year with gains so far of more than 8 percent, eased to close 0.48 percent lower. Hong Kong recovered at the close to end down just 0.13 percent, but it still got no boost out of Tung Chee-hwa's policy address. Singapore again broke rank with the rest of Asia, closing up a little on bank-stock gains. The downturn in Asia comes after Wall Street skidded on Wednesday, with aluminum maker Alcoa missing its profit forecast and the Dow Jones industrial average falling 1.66 percent to end at 8,595.31. Gloomy comments from Intel and a profit warning from computer maker Gateway knocked Nasdaq, which dropped 2.13 percent to 1,401.07. (U.S. roundup) Nikkei back from early selling
In Tokyo on Thursday, the Nikkei dipped sharply in early trade before closing only narrowly down, off 0.23 percent. But it is still at its lowest since December 20. Pension funds were buying into stocks, and the largest listing, NTT DoCoMo, supported the market with a 2.14 percent gain to 239,000 yen. But rival cell-phone service KDDI lost 3.25 percent to 357,000 yen, and tech stocks took a beating, with Fujitsu down 5.15 percent to 313 yen and Hitachi off 3.02 percent to 450 yen. Toshiba Corp, which confirmed it would start building the world's smallest chips this spring, dipped 2.9 percent to 370 yen. (Full story) NEC lost 2.76 percent to 422 yen and Mitsubishi Electric gave up 2.9 percent to 268 yen. Currency pressures hurtingThe yen is stronger against the U.S. dollar at 118.88. (Dollar falls) That hurt some exporters, with Nissan, Toyota and most other automakers weaker. Honda closed unchanged. Among the big banks, Mizuho Holdings continued to fall, losing another 3.5 percent to 96,500 yen. UFJ Holdings also gave ground, down 4.6 percent to 104,000 yen. But Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group rose 1.13 percent to 628,000 yen. There were also gains in defensive plays such as Japan's railway companies. Investment group Softbank tumbled 4.17 percent to 1,240 yen on a report that it urged Aozora Bank to leak customer data to a U.S. buyout fund. (Full story) Sydney blue chips lowerIn Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.32 percent to 3,064.9. News Corp. was a rare gainer, up 0.73 percent to A$12.42. Telstra Corp. fell 1.33 percent to A$4.46 and resources leader BHP Billiton was down 1.51 percent to A$9.81, with the Australian government questioning the size of the payout for its outgoing CEO. (Full story) Industry peer Rio Tinto recovered from early doubts about demand to end unchanged at A$35.00. Gold stocks rose again, with Placer Dome up 3.6 percent to A$20.20 and Lihir Gold 2.05 percent higher at A$1.49. Bullion is still near six-year highs. New Zealand's Top 40 closed marginally lower, off 0.07 percent to 1,983.20, as Telecom New Zealand slipped 0.64 percent to NZ$4.65. Hong Kong gets no address liftHong Kong's Hang Seng finished off just 0.13 percent at 9,675.41, having traded down almost 1 percent a day after Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's annual policy address.
Tung called for the civil service to take a pay cut and pledged to balance Hong Kong's budget by the end of his term. He also pushed for closer ties with the neighboring Pearl River Delta in mainland China. (Full story) Property stocks recovered from an initial lag to end generally flat. Sun Hung Kai Properties even rose 0.64 percent to HK$47.30. Leading listing HSBC ended only 0.28 lower percent at HK$88.50, with Hang Seng flat. There was a 0.61 percent rise for the Bank of China Hong Kong. U.S.-focused stocks fell, with Johnson Electric down 1.09 percent to HK$9.05 and trading house Li & Fung off 1.88 percent to HK$7.85. Airline Cathay Pacific jumped 3.26 percent to HK$11.10 as oil prices ease, with OPEC considering boosting production. Domestic plays up again in TaiwanTaiwan's Taiex lost 0.48 percent at 4,813.73 as techs slipped. Domestic industrial plays again dominated trade, with Taiwan Cement up 3.9 percent to T$14.70 and Nan Ya Plastic up 6.7 percent to T$36.40. China Steel was flat at T$22.40. Chip foundries TSMC and UMC were lower. But Accton Technology rose 4.47 percent to T$39.70 after it agreed to form a joint venture with Philips Electronics of the Netherlands. (Full story) Chipmaker Mosel Vitelic gained 6.14 percent to T$6.05 despite a standoff with German partner Infineon Technologies over their Promos joint venture. (Full story) Samsung deals Seoul a blowSouth Korea's Kospi fell 3.27 percent to 630.40, the heaviest selling in Asia. Market leader Samsung Electronics lost 5.0 percent to 323,000 won, as investors fretted about a possible increase in the number of its shares. Big exporter Hyundai Motor dropped 5.76 percent to 27,000 won and cell-phone No. 1 SK Telecom fell 3.08 percent to 220,000 won. LG Electronics fell 4.9 percent to 43,000 won after the world's largest air-conditioner maker said it would take a $110 million loss in the fourth quarter from its display joint venture with Philips Electronics. The central Bank of Korea met on interest rates Thursday and opted to leave them steady at 4.25 percent. (Full story) Singapore banks move upSingapore's Straits Times index closed up 0.21 percent at 1,335.09, again taking a different course from its Asian peers. OCBC topped the gains with a 2.69 percent climb to S$9.55. DBS Group added 1.85 percent to end at S$11.00. Cell-phone service MobileOne raced up 11.01 percent to S$1.21 after dropping a similar amount earlier this week. There were losses for Singapore Airlines, down 3.81 percent to S$10.10.
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