Tokyo dipping towards 8,000

Tokyo's broad Topix index is trading below 800, its lowest since 1984. Story Tools

TOKYO, Japan -- Fear that a war in Iraq may start next week is driving Japan's key Nikkei average to new 20-year lows on Monday as Asian markets head into afternoon trade.

The Nikkei is down 1.1 percent to 8,054.75 at the midday break after going as low as 8011 during the morning.

That is its lowest level since March 1983 and follows last Friday's two-decade closing low of 8,144.12.

The broader Topix index is down 1.3 percent to 785.79, its lowest since August 1984.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is also down near midday and Taiwan's Taiex is off half a percent after opening slightly higher.

But some other markets in the region are marginally firmer, recovering some of last week's ground.

Australia, which ended at a four-year low on Friday, is up 0.22 percent at 2750 and Singapore is ahead 0.26 percent.

In Seoul, the Kospi is flat at 546.03, buoyed mainly by a gain of almost 2 percent for the market's biggest stock, Samsung Electronics.

New Zealand's Top 50, virtually the only index to gain ground last week, is up again in Monday afternoon trade, 0.33 percent higher at 1908.78.

In Tokyo, technology-related stocks are seeing some of the heaviest falls Monday, with Softbank down more than 7 percent and Yahoo Japan off more than 6 percent.

Tokyo Electron is down 6.5 percent to 4720 yen and Advantest, another tech bellwether, is 4.38 percent lower at 4590 yen.

Among major brand name makers, Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Kyocera and Matsushita Electric Industrial are all down about 3 percent.

But the loss for big consumer electronics exporter Sony is relatively restrained, down 0.47 percent to 4230 yen. Canon, another big exporter, is up 0.98 percent to 4110 yen.

Automakers higher

After their big falls last week, automakers are showing a slight recovery, with Honda up 1.26 percent to 4020 yen, Nissan 1.84 percent higher at 831 yen and Toyota up 0.72 percent to 2805 yen.

Tokyo's biggest stock, mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo, is down 3.26 percent to 208,000 yen, close to its one-year low of 201,000 yen seen last September.

Big banks and brokers are also weaker, with Nomura Holdings down 4.06 percent to 1,252 yen.

It led a 4.27 percent fall in the brokerage sector subindex after Friday's news that the Japanese securities regulator was seeking a penalty against major market player Nikko Salomon Smith Barney.

Hiroyuki Nakai, chief strategist at Tokai Tokyo Securities, told Reuters news agency that the threat of war in Iraq is "hanging like a big cloud" over the market

A U.S.-led strike against Iraq would disrupt trade for Asia's export-driven economies, and higher oil prices would weigh on economic growth.

As well, a weaker U.S. dollar hurts profits for big Japanese exporters such as Honda and Sony, which make a large part of their sales in the U.S. market.

The dollar is trading at 116.85 yen in Asia on Monday.

According to business daily the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Taiyo Mutual Life Insurance may sell some of its shareholdings in two banks, believed to be Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group.

SMFG is down 8.49 percent at 237,000 yen after hitting a new lifetime low of 236,000 yen. MTFG is down 4.39 percent at 457,000 yen and UFJ Holdings is off.

There is no trade for Mizuho Holdings, which was removed from the Nikkei index last Thursday and will be replaced on Thursday by Mizuho Financial Group.

In Australia, big-cap stocks News Corp, Telstra, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are all higher as the market comes off a four-year low seen last Friday.

BHP Billiton is up almost 2 percent to A$8.82. But big banks NAB, Westpac and CBA are lower.

The troubles for insurer and funds manager AMP are continuing, with the stock at another record low of A$6.34, down 2.61 percent.

In South Korea, big exporter Hyundai Motor is down 2.75 percent to 21,250 won. Steelmaker Posco is down 0.3 percent to 98,700 won and SK Telecom is off 0.62 percent to 160,000 won.

In Hong Kong, most moves are muted, with HSBC and other big banks either steady or slightly higher.

Telco PCCW is up half a percent to HK$4.80 after last week's heavy fall, but China Unicom is down again.

In Taiwan, the Taiex is about half a percent lower at 4326.07, with big stock TSMC up 2.4 percent to T$42.60.

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