| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Exporters hit as Tokyo slides
TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese stocks opened lower on Wednesday with investors resuming selling in banks such as Mizuho Holdings and avoiding exporters after the blue-chip U.S. Dow Jones index fell to a level not seen in almost five months. The Dow lost 1.7 percent on Tuesday amid fears that slack consumer spending will hurt an economy struggling under the threat of war. The United States ordered 60,000 new troops to the Persian Gulf, sparking speculation among traders that war in Iraq is imminent. "The market is overshadowed by war fears," Reuters reports Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity marketing at Nikko Cordial Securities, as saying. The Nikkei average was down just under 1 percent to 8398.18 and the broader TOPIX index was down 1.02 percent at 819.60 in early trading. Automaker Honda Motor Co Ltd lost 2.29 percent to 4,260 yen and rival Toyota Motor Co Ltd was down 1.05 percent at 2,835. Analysts said they are watching how the banking sector will fare. The sector subindex IBNKS rose 2 percent on Tuesday, a day after it hit a post-bubble low on worries about bank capital. Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest banking group by assets, was down 0.95 percent at 104,000 yen after rising 5.4 percent in the previous session. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group (MTFG), Japan's third-largest banking group by assets, was up a meagre 0.4 percent at 496,000 yen, extending gains into a second day after MTFG's pricing of a global share offering showed that demand for the new common shares was strong. The Bank of Japan concludes a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, the last for outgoing governor Masaru Hayami. A majority of market players expect no change in Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy. Security concerns continued to weigh on the South Korean market, the Kospi sliding 2.43 percent in early trading to 562.58. Steel giant POSCO led the way lower, dropping 4.78 percent to 99,500 won. In Australia, investors absorbed a drought-fueled drop in fourth-quarter gross domestic product to 3 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.9 percent to 2786.50 shortly before midday with media giant News Corp off A35c to A$9.90 and telco Telstra A1c weaker at A$4.17. New Zealand's NZSE Top 50 index was 0.1 percent lower at 1891.11 in afternoon business while Singapore's Straits Times index had slipped 0.41 percent to 1263.45 shortly after its open. Reuters contributed to this report.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
