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Asian stocks slip again
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Most Asian markets are again lower heading into Thursday afternoon, with South Korea and Singapore showing the heaviest declines. Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan are posting modest falls, while Australia is recovering a little from a three-year low seen on Wednesday. It is up about a third of a percent. New Zealand is slightly higher, up 0.18 percent after its central bank left interest rates on hold, as expected. In Tokyo, Japanese stocks opened slightly firmer but have eased to be lower by the midday break. The Nikkei 225 average is down 0.53 percent to 8427.72, while the broader Topix index is off 0.21 percent to 821.05. Big exporters are well into the red. Sony is down more than 2 percent and carmakers Nissan and Honda are both more than 2 percent on perceived weaker demand in their chief market, the United States. In the tech sector, Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC are also down. But big banks are showing some strength, with good gains for Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group, up 1.61 percent to 506,000 yen, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, up 1.47 percent to 276,000 yen. One of the day's best gainers is All Nippon Airways, up 4.82 percent to 239 yen. Fast-food chain McDonald's Japan is 4 percent higher at 1780 yen after the company announced Wednesday that founder Den Fujita would step down as chairman and CEO on March 28. (Full story) Mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo is down 0.88 percent to 225,000 yen as part of a general decline among telcos. Banyu Pharmaceutical is down 7.05 percent to 1265 yen after industry sources said a group of shareholders who had opposed a $1.62 billion takeover bid by Merck capitulated. Wall Street gains
The signs of weakness in Asia are in contrast to Wall Street's performance Wednesday, where both the Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq composite posted gains. The Dow rose almost 1 percent and the Nasdaq was up about half a percent. (Full story) In South Korea, the Kospi is continuing to suffer from security fears on the Korean peninsula. The index is having a woeful week, and is down 1.29 percent to 553.0 near midday Thursday. It is the worst performer in Asia so far this year, off about 12 percent. Hyundai Motor is down again, off almost 4 percent to 22,500 won, while telco KT Corp is down 2.4 percent to 42,700 won. SK Telecom is up slightly to 163,500 won but has still lost 28 percent for the year on concerns about allegations of illegal stock trading involving SK Group units. SK Group chairman Son Kil-seung was called in by prosecutors for questioning on Wednesday. (Full story) Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is down 0.72 percent to 274,000 won. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is about a third of a percent lower at 9080.32 as the market absorbs the 2003 Budget address, in which Financial Secretary Antony Leung said corporate and personal taxes will rise. (Full story) Big bank HSBC is unchanged at HK$83.75. In Taiwan, the Taiex is down just 0.28 percent to 4405.57 as techs look for guidance. The market's biggest stock, chip foundry TSMC, is also just in the red, down 0.24 percent to T$41.50. Chunghwa Telecom, which saw a proposed sell-off falter again on Wednesday, is down about 1 percent to T$51.50. (Full story) Australian investors are a touch more upbeat, lifting the S&P/ASX 200 index 0.39 percent to 2786.6 in early afternoon trade. The market's biggest stock, News Corp, is up 0.82 percent to A$9.87, and big banks are higher too after a poor day Wednesday. Widely held telco Telstra is 0.24 percent firmer at A$4.16 and flagship carrier Qantas is up 0.63 percent to $A3.22. In New Zealand, the new NZSE Top 50 index is 0.34 percent higher at 1916.88 near the close, with a gain of almost 1 percent to NZ$4.33 for Telecom NZ and almost 2 percent to NZ$0.52 for Air New Zealand. In Singapore, the Straits Times index is down 1.13 percent to 1251.16. Reuters contributed to this report.
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