Tokyo squeezes into the black

NTT DoCoMo closed higher Thursday after unveiling its wristphone. Story Tools

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo shares managed a modest gain by the close Thursday, but most other Asian markets dipped after Wall Street's softer performance on jitters over the war in Iraq.

Hong Kong showed the biggest decline, down almost 2 percent. South Korea lost 1.0 percent and Singapore ended almost 1 percent lower.

But most other moves were muted Thursday. In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 average rose 0.2 percent to 8346.53, while the broader Topix index put on 0.25 percent to 823.46.

Australia was virtually flat, its index up just 0.01 percent to 2892.5. Taiwan managed the region's biggest gain, up 0.4 percent, and New Zealand's Top 50 index rose 0.31 percent.

Along with falls on Wall Street and edginess in European markets on Wednesday, investors in Asia largely stayed on the sidelines Thursday as the end of the Japanese financial year on March 31 approaches.

There were strong gains, however, for Japan's big banks. Mizuho, the world's biggest bank by assets, led the way, putting on 5.1 percent to 101,000 yen. UFJ Holdings rose 3.33 percent to 124,000 yen and SMFG added 2.65 percent to 232,000 yen.

The market's biggest stock, mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, finished 2.16 percent higher at 236,000 yen after it said on Wednesday it would launch the world's first wristwatch-style mobile phones operating on personal handyphone system (PHS) networks.

Consumer electronics leader Sony finished slightly higher, as is Matsushita Electric Industrial. Retailer Seiyu jumped 4.7 percent to 270 yen after giving more details of its Wal-Mart tieup. (Full story)

But big auto exporters such as Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor gave ground, both losing about 1.7 percent. Tech-related stocks Fujitsu, Hitachi and Toshiba were also weaker.

Japanese blue chips came under pressure after a fall of 0.61 percent for the U.S. Dow Jones industrial average and a decline of 0.26 percent for the Nasdaq composite index. (Full story)

Australia lower

In Australia, the SP/ASX200 moved in a narrow range before closing virtually unchanged at 2892.5.

Market heavyweight News Corp., which is sensitive to U.S. market moves, fell 3.94 percent to A$10.74. Another stock to fall sharply was Qantas, down 4.32 percent to A$3.32 as international airlines feel the impact of Iraq and the mystery pneumonia virus that has spread around the world. (Full story)

Resources leader BHP Billiton posted a fall of 0.43 percent to A$9.36 after it said Wednesday it was selling its stake in an Argentinian copper-gold mine. (Full story)

Banking leader NAB recovered from an earlier fall to finish 0.56 percent higher at A$32.24, while the country's biggest telephone company, Telstra rose 0.75 percent to A$4.05.

In Seoul, the Kospi index finished 1.0 percent lower at 549.26. Big chipmaker and consumer electronics exporter Samsung Electronics gave up 1.81 percent to 298,500 won.

South Korea's biggest carmaker, Hyundai Motor, was up strongly earlier in the day but eased to finish 1.4 percent higher at 25,450 won. Mobile phone leader SK Telecom rose 0.32 percent to 155,000 won.

In Taiwan, the Taiex turned around to close 0.4 percent higher at 4514.24. There was a heavy fall for the market's biggest stock, chip foundry TSMC, which slipped 4.47 percent to T$44.90. Smaller rival UMC was off 1.91 percent to T$20.50.

But while some techs were lower, industrial stock Formosa Plastic put on 2.42 percent to T$46.50.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index finished 1.93 percent lower at 8872.32, with a broad decline among blue chips.

Banking leader HSBC ended 1.21 percent lower at HK$81.50 and telco PCCW was off 3.19 percent to HK$4.55. Mobile phone company China Unicom lost 4.86 percent to HK$4.40.

Singapore's Straits Times index closed down 0.86 percent to 1,313.65. A cut in bookings due to Iraq war concerns and the spread of the mysterious killer pneumonia hit Singapore Airlines stock by 3.1 percent, dropping to $9.40.

Of the banks, DBS Group lost 1.55 percent to S$9.50 and OCBC Bank dipped 1.5 percent to $9.75.

In New Zealand, the Top 50 closed 0.31 percent higher at 1914.07. Air New Zealand was up 4 percent to NZ$0.51 and Telecom NZ rose about 1 percent to NZ$4.37.

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