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Asia closes lower on war fears
TOKYO, Japan -- Asian markets closed sharply lower Wednesday, driven down by war fears and further falls in the U.S. weighing on investors. South Korea continued its volatile week, the Kospi index dipping more than 2.8 percent as security concerns took the market to its lowest since October 2001. Australia lost 1.32 percent to close at its lowest level in three years. In Tokyo, the falls were more muted. The Nikkei 225 average finished down just 0.09 percent at 8,472.62 while the broader Topix index was off 0.63 percent at 8232.81. Japanese carmakers and tech-related exporters such as Sony, Fujitsu and Hitachi all fell sharply, but the big banks continued to regain some of the ground lost in recent days. Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan dropped 1.81 percent, Hong Kong was down about 0.75 percent near the close and Singapore was off about 0.33 percent. New Zealand was the only market to move against the trend, with its new Top 50 index up almost half a percent. Asian markets generally took their lead from Wall Street's poor performance, where war fears and weak consumer spending pushed the Dow Jones industrial average down 1.7 percent on Tuesday to 7,704.87, its lowest level in almost five months. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite also dipped, losing 0.95 percent to 1,307.77. (Full story) In Tokyo, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric and NEC were among the heaviest tech losers, with falls of 2 percent or more. Earlier in the day their losses were above 3 percent. Consumer electronics leader Sony lost 1.12 percent to 4430 yen, close to a 16-month low. Canon fell 1.41 percent to 4200 yen. Among carmakers, Nissan showed the heaviest fall, down 4.75 percent to 843 yen. Honda was off 1.38 percent to 4300 yen and Toyota fell 1.05 percent to 2835 yen. Industrial stock Nippon Steel was among the most active issues, losing 3.25 percent to 149 yen. The big four banks, Mizuho, UFJ, MTFG and SMFG had a mixed day, with Mizuho jumping 6.67 percent to 112,000 yen. UFJ was flat, while SMFG fell 1.45 percent. MTFG, which priced its global share offering on Monday at 475,000 yen, rose 0.81 percent to 498,000 yen. Security concerns
In Seoul, security concerns continued to weigh on the market, with the Kospi sliding 2.83 percent to to 560.26, a 16-month low. Steel giant Posco fell 4.88 percent to 99,400 won and big exporter Hyundai Motor tumbled 7.51 percent to 23,400 won. Samsung Electronics, the market's biggest stock, lost 3.16 percent to 276,000 won. Trigem Computer, the main shareholder in Korea Thrunet with a 31 percent stake, fell another 10 percent to 4015 won after Thrunet filed for court receivership. Trigem is now down 45 percent for the year. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is down about 1 percent to 9085.86, with banking giant HSBC about 0.3 percent lower at HK$83.75. Troubled telco PCCW has slipped below HK$5 for the first time, down 2.48 percent to HK$4.925. Mobile twins China Mobile and China Unicom are both down more than 3 percent. In Taiwan, the Taiex closed 1.81 percent lower at 4418.11, with chip foundry TSMC, the market's biggest stock, down 4.15 percent to T$41.60. In Australia, investors absorbed a drought-fueled drop in fourth-quarter gross domestic product, sending the S&P/ASX 200 down 1.32 percent to a three-year low of 2776.0. Media giant News Corp was down 4.49 percent to A$9.79 and telco Telstra eased 0.72 percent to A$4.15. Resources stocks BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto also fell, as did big banks NAB and CBA. But gold stocks firmed on war fears. New Zealand's NZSE Top 50 index finished 0.47 percent higher at 1910.33, with Telecom NZ putting on 0.94 percent to NZ$4.29 and Air NZ unchanged at NZ$0.51. Singapore's Straits Times index is down 0.3 percent to 1265.33, with big bank DBS off 2.13 percent to S$9.20.
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