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Asian stocks close in the red
TOKYO, Japan -- Asian markets closed mainly weaker Friday, following declines in the United States and Europe over concerns about the war in Iraq. Japan posted the biggest fall, with the Nikkei 225 average dropping 1.06 percent to 8280.16 and the broader Topix index falling 0.67 percent to 817.92. Taiwan lost about 0.8 percent and Hong Kong was also in the red. Singapore shares closed slightly higher. Those performances contrasted with a gain of almost 1.3 percent for South Korea and modest rises in New Zealand and Australia. That was despite a profit warning from big airline Qantas, hit by falling passenger numbers from the war in Iraq and the deadly flu-like SARS virus sweeping across Asia. In Tokyo, blue chip exporters such as Sony, Canon and Toyota were under pressure as investors worried about how long the war in Iraq may continue. They also weighed the weaker performances in Europe and the United States on Thursday. In Europe, the FTSE lost 1.7 percent and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 2.3 percent. (Full story) In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped about a third of a percent to 8201.45, while the Nasdaq composite eased 0.23 percent to 1384.25. (Full story) Sony ended the day down 2.0 percent at 4400 yen and Canon was off 2.7 percent to 4310 yen. Tech-related stocks such as NEC, Fujitsu, Hitachi and Toshiba also finished in the red. NTT DoCoMo, the market's biggest stock, was a rare gainer, putting on 0.85 percent to 238,000 yen. But its parent NTT dipped 0.47 percent to 427,000 yen, despite winning approval from the government for an access fee increase. (Full story) Japan's largest carmaker, Toyota Motor, fell 1.75 percent to 2805 yen, while rival Honda Motor was off 2.12 percent to 4150 yen and Nissan eased 2.38 percent to 819 yen. Most of the big banks also finished in the red, with MTFG down 3.5 percent and SMFG off 2.6 percent. Mizuho Holdings fell 1.98 percent to 99,000 yen and UFJ Holdings was unchanged at 124,000 yen. South Korea higher
In South Korea, the Kospi rebounded from early falls to finish 1.29 percent higher at 556.33. There were broad gains across the board, with Samsung Electronics, the market's biggest stock, jumping 2.85 percent to 307,000 won. Another big gainer was telco KT Corp, up 3.17 percent to 43,900 won. LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK Telecom and big steelmaker Posco, all put on between half and one percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished just in the red, down 0.1 percent to 8863.36. Big bank HSBC put on 0.3 percent to HK$81.75 and other blue chips were mostly unchanged. Mobile phone leader China Mobile finished down 1.83 percent to HK$16.10. In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 finished 0.18 percent higher at 2897.7, pushed higher by gains for market heavyweight News Corp. The global media group rose 2.7 percent to A$11.05 after announcing a $500 million share purchase deal with big investor Liberty Media. ( Full story) The market's other focus was the sharp decline of airline Qantas, which hit an 18-month low of A$2.89 Friday morning after warning that falling passenger numbers meant it would not meet its full-year profit target. It closed 9.64 percent lower at A$3.01. (Full story) Other blue chips including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and National Australia Bank were down, while widely chip telco Telstra finished unchanged at A$4.05. Retailer Coles Myer ended in the black, as did rival Woolworths and big brewer Foster's Group. In Taiwan, where the Taiex fell 0.82 percent to 4477.01, big chip foundry TSMC was 1.11 percent lower to T$44.40. Other tech stocks UMC, Acer and Hon Hai also finished in the red. New Zealand's Top 50 turned around from early falls to finish 0.27 percent higher at 1919.23. Telecom NZ rose 1.83 percent to NZ$4.45. In Singapore, the Straits Times index rose 0.36 percent to 1,318.43. Carrier Singapore Airlines fell 3.70 percent to a 16-month low of S$9.05 after revealing one of its flight attendants had been diagnosed with symptoms of the SARS virus. (Full story) But SingTel gained 1.5 percent and banking leader DBS also ended higher at $9.60.
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