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Asian stocks paint mixed picture
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Asia's biggest markets are mainly lower at midday Wednesday, with Japan, Taiwan and South Korea in the red. But the picture is mixed, with gains for Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, and Singapore trading close to par. Uncertainty about the continuing war in Iraq and the threat to some East Asian economies posed by the flu-like SARS illness are weighing on investor confidence. In Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 average fell close to a 20-year low at one stage of trade on Tuesday, it is down 0.81 percent to 7921.65 at the end of the morning session Wednesday. The broader Topix is off 0.60 percent to 784.23. Big banks are sharply lower, with Mizuho plunging 8.76 percent to 81,200 yen after earlier touching a fresh record low of 80,600 yen. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group is down 6.15 percent to 412,000 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is off 4.98 percent to 191,000 yen, after hitting a lifetime low of 186,000 yen. Airlines and some of the country's biggest exporters, including automaker Toyota and consumer electronics company Mitsubishi Electric, are also down. Toyota has lost 2.25 percent to 2610 yen and Japan Airlines System is off 4.85 percent to 216 yen. But the market's biggest stock, mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, is up 0.44 percent to 226,000 yen. The mixed mood in Asia follows a stronger showing on Wall Street on Tuesday, where markets broke their four-day losing streak. The Dow Jones industrial average put on 1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.5 percent. (Full story) Weighing on Asian markets generally is the threat of recession, stemming from the impact of the deadly SARS virus that has swept across Asia and caused more than 50 deaths in the region. (Full story) Australia higherIn Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is 0.4 percent higher at 2893.7 in early afternoon, after the central bank again left interest rates on hold, as expected. (Full story) Market heavyweight News Corp is up 3.57 percent to A$11.02 after SBC, a potential rival to News for U.S. satellite broadcaster DirecTV, dropped out of the bidding. Blue chips BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, NAB and Telstra are all higher, as is flag carrier Qantas Airways, up almost 2.3 percent to A$3.13. Gold stocks are lower. In South Korea, the Kospi is 0.36 percent lower at 536.63. Big exporter Hyundai Motor is down 1.74 percent to 22,650 won. Samsung Electronics, the market's biggest stock, is down 2.11 percent to 278,000 won. SK Telecom is going against the trend, putting on 2.5 percent to 162,500 won. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is up 0.4 percent to 8632.75 near midday, after touching a four and a half year low a day earlier on fears about the impact of the SARS virus. Blue chips are mainly unchanged, with big bank HSBC about 0.6 percent higher at HK$80.75.. Taiwan's Taiex is down about 0.9 percent to 4298.49, with the leading stock, chip foundry TSMC, about 0.24 percent higher at T$42.30. In New Zealand, the Top 50 is up about 0.87 percent to 1941.52 near the close. Telecom New Zealand is 2.67 percent higher at NZ$4.62.
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