Japan, Korea open in the red

The SARS virus is raising the threat of recession in parts of Asia. Story Tools

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Asian markets again lack direction at the opening of trade on Wednesday, with Japan just in the red, but gains for Australia and Singapore.

South Korea's Kospi and Taiwan's Taiex are both down about half a percent, while New Zealand is posting a gain of about 0.4 percent.

In Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 average fell close to a 20-year low at one stage of trade on Tuesday, it is down 0.65 percent to 7937.98 in early Wednesday trade.

The broader Topix is off about a third of a percent to 786.29.

Big banks are sharply lower, with Mizuho plunging 6.6 percent to a fresh record low of 83,200 yen.

Airlines and some of the country's biggest exporters, including automaker Toyota and consumer electronics company Mitsubishi Electric, are also down.

But the market's biggest stock, mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, is up 0.44 percent to 226,000 yen.

The mixed opening 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)

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is 0.18 percent higher at 2887.5 after the central bank again left interest rates on hold, as expected. (Full story)

Market heavyweight News Corp is up 3 percent to A$10.95 after SBC, a potential rival to News for U.S. satellite broadcaster DirecTV, dropped out of the bidding.

Blue chips BHP Billiton, NAB and Telstra are all higher, as is flag carrier Qantas Airways up almost 2 percent to A$3.12.

In South Korea, the Kospi is 0.69 percent lower at 534.84.

Big exporter Hyundai Motor is down 1.5 percent to 22,700 won. Samsung Electronics, the market's biggest stock, is down a similar amount to 280,000 won.

Taiwan's leading stock, chip foundry TSMC, is about half a percent higher at T$42.40.

In New Zealand, the Top 50 is up about 0.46 percent. Telecom New Zealand is 1.5 percent higher at NZ$4.57.

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