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Asian stocks follow global fall
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Markets in Asia have opened lower Tuesday, taking their lead from the big falls among U.S. and European stocks on Monday as pessimism about the war in Iraq takes hold among some investors. Adding to the pressure is a rebound in the price of oil, up from four-month lows to $28.66 a barrel for benchmark light crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Japan is down more than 1 percent, as is Singapore. There are bigger falls in South Korea and Taiwan, while the declines in Australia and New Zealand are restricted to less than 1 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 is 1.07 percent lower at 8327.69, while the broader Topix is off 1.4 percent to 819.81 as exporters such as Sony, Toyota and Canon take a tumble. They and other big exporters had led the gains in the previous day's trading. Tokyo's biggest stock, mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, is 3.32 percent lower at 233,000 yen. Japanese airlines JAL and ANA, which racked up impressive gains on Monday, are giving ground, off about 2 percent. After a national holiday on Friday, Japan's market caught up with the rest of Asia on Monday, with automakers, banks and tech-related stocks making sharp gains. The Nikkei 225 finished almost 3 percent higher to 8435.07, its largest percentage gain in four months. But traders in Asia are skittish on Tuesday after the big falls on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.61 percent -- its worst selloff in almost six months -- and the Nasdaq composite lost 3.66 percent. (Full story) European markets also were pummeled, with London's FTSE down more than 3 percent and Paris and Frankfurt slumping more than 5 percent. (Full story) Also weighing on investors' minds in Tokyo is an emergency meeting Tuesday of the Bank of Japan, which is looking at new monetary policy measures. Australia, Korea weakerIn Australia, the S&P/ASX200 is 0.65 percent weaker in early trade Tuesday, driven down by a 3 percent fall in the market's biggest stock, News Corp. The media giant, which makes most of its money in the United States, fell to A$10.59 as pessimism about the war in Iraq gripped Wall Street overnight. Resources leader BHP Billiton has fallen 1.7 percent to A$9.24 and national carrier Qantas is down 2 percent to A$3.37. New Zealand's Top 50 is about 0.9 percent lower at 1899.27, with Telecom New Zealand off the same amount to NZ$4.29. South Korea's Kospi index is sharply lower, down 2.67 percent to 554.63. Along with the war in Iraq, Seoul's market has to factor in tensions with North Korea. At the weekend, North Korea cancelled economic cooperation talks with the South that were to take place in Pyongyang this week. It cited the South's "aggressive" posture in moving to a higher military alert. Big chipmaker Samsung Electronics, the market's biggest stock, is down 2.72 percent to 304,000 won and big exporter Hyundai Motor is off more than 4 percent to 24,600 won. Mobile phone leader SK Telecom is also about 4 percent lower to 153,000 won. Taiwan's Taiex has opened more than 2 percent lower at 4476.81, while Singapore's Straits Times is off about 1.23 percent to 1283.52.
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