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Tokyo hovers near 20-year low
TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks are near a 20-year low heading into Friday afternoon on the prospect of an imminent war in Iraq. Other Asian markets are also sharply down. Also weighing on the Japanese market is a reported investigation into alleged stock manipulation by Nikko Salomon Smith Barney. The Nikkei 225 average is down 1.19 percent to 8,269.21 at the midday break. That is below a 20-year closing low of 8,303.39 seen last November, but still above an intra-day low of 8,1972.22 in October. The broader Topix index is down 1.09 percent to 807.36. Big exporters like Sony and leading banks are among the heaviest losers. The market's biggest stock, mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo, is down 1.79 percent to 219,000 yen. Other markets in the region are also lower in Friday trade, with a loss of more than 1.3 percent for the Straits Times index in Singapore. Australia and South Korea are both down about 0.8 percent, up slightly from early falls. Hong Kong is down about 0.4 percent and New Zealand's market is off about 0.3 percent. Taiwan opened higher but has slipped about 0.75 percent into the red. Asia's poor performance follows that of Wall Street, where worries about Iraq and the economy punished stocks Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.3 percent and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.88 percent. (Full story) Speculation that war in Iraq is imminent is also dampening Japanese market sentiment. Sony Corp, the world's biggest consumer electronics maker, is down 2.54 percent to 4,220 yen, a new 17-month low. Among tech-related stocks, Hitachi is off 3.72 percent to 466 yen and NEC is down 1.83 percent to 430 yen. Kyocera is also off, down 1.94 percent to 6050 yen. But computer and chip-makers Fujitsu and Toshiba are both moving slightly higher. Carmaker and big exporter Honda is down sharply, off 3.64 percent to 3970 yen. Nissan is down 1.45 percent, but No. 1 maker Toyota is only just in the red, down 0.18 percent.
Among the big banks, UFJ Holdings is down 4.26 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is off 2.25 percent and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group is 1.8 percent lower. Mizuho Holdings was removed from the Nikkei index Thursday and will be replaced next Thursday by Mizuho Financial Group. Japanese business daily the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on Friday that Nikko Salomon -- a joint venture between Nikko Cordial Corp and Citigroup Inc -- allegedly boosted prices of five or six issues last July by placing a wave of buy orders before the close of trading in order to boost its profits on the creation of an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The newspaper report sent shares in Nikko Cordial down 8.73 percent to 386 yen, while leading brokerage Nomura Holdings fell 1.85 percent to 1,328. A Nikko Salomon spokesman said the company was investigating the report but was not yet able to comment. Financial sources told Reuters that the Securities and Exchange Surveilance Commission watchdog would likely seek a penalty as soon as Friday. South Korea slipsIn Seoul, the Kospi is down 1.11 percent to 549.14, a 16-month low, with big exporter Hyundai Motor down 1.58 percent to 21,750 won. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is flat at 276,000 won. SK Telecom is down 0.6 percent to 162,000 won, but rival KT Corp is about 1 percent higher at 43,250 won. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is off 0.77 percent to 8901 near midday. HSBC is down about 0.3 percent, but telco PCCW is slipping 2 percent to HK$4.775. Mobile phone operator China Unicom is another heavy loser, down 2.86 percent to HK$4.25. Taiwan's Taiex is almost half a percent lower to 4377.10. But the market's biggest stock, chip foundry TSMC, is up 1.93 percent to T$42.20. In Australia, the S&PASX200 is down 0.95 percent in early afternoon trade to 2749.0, a fresh three-year low. News Corp is off 2.34 percent to A$9.58 and resources stocks BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are also down by similar levels. Telco Telstra is 1.22 percent lower to A$4.06 after CEO Ziggy Switkowski denied a report that a deal had been reached with the banking syndicate to Reach, the Telstra-PCCW joint venture. (Full story) Big banks and retailers are also lower. Insurer and funds manager AMP is down 2.22 percent to A$6.62. At one point in the morning it touched a new intra-day low of A$6.52. In New Zealand, the Top 50 is down 0.27 percent to 1904.86 near the close. Air New Zealand is down almost 2 percent, while Telecom NZ is up half a percent to NZ$4.34. Singapore's Straits Times index is down 1.14 percent to 1229.63, close to its lowest since November 1998. Big banks are down, as are SingTel and Singapore Airlines. Reuters contributed to this report.
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