Dollar, Cisco weigh on Asia
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The Nikkei retreated again Wednesday, extending its losses to a third day.
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(CNN) -- A sharp fall hit Japan's Nikkei Wednesday as the weak dollar sent investors into sell mode for a third straight session.
Sentiment was largely negative across Asian markets due to dollar weakness, disappointing profit results from Cisco Systems and the ongoing spread of the bird flu virus.
Along with the decline in Japan, there were falls in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand.
Australia was the only major market to make a gain, but that was a negligible 0.04 percent increase.
The biggest fall was in Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 average ended at 10,447.25, down 1.83 per cent. Wednesday's performance followed a 1.25 percent drop Tuesday.
The Topix shed 1.98 per cent to close at 1,022.61.
Investors kept an eye on the dollar, which traded as low as 105.37 yen, slightly higher than the 41-month low of 105.22 in London late Tuesday.
Japan's top financial diplomat, Zembei Mizoguchi, said Wednesday it was important foreign exchange rates reflect economic fundamentals and move in a stable manner over the medium term.
"There is no change in the view that the U.S. economy is relatively strong," said Mizoguchi, vice finance minister for international affairs.
The Group of Seven industrial nations meets in Florida this weekend and the dollar's weakness on world markets will be discussed.
One of the few bright spots Wednesday was a strong earnings performance from Isuzu Motors. Its stock rose 2.36 percent to 217 yen, extending a 3.4 percent gain Tuesday.
The company said it returned to an operating profit for the nine months to December thanks to brisk sales of trucks and restructuring efforts.
Technology stocks did not fair so well. Pioneer lost 3.13 percent to 3,090 yen after the company announced plans to expand its plasma display panel (PDP) operations.
It intends to purchase NEC Corp's PDP unit for 40 billion yen ($379 million) to make it the world's largest supplier of plasma screens with a 20 percent marketshare.
NEC bounced slightly, up 0.13 percent at 782 yen.
Banking group UFJ Holdings continued its four-day losing streak, shedding 5.05 percent.
Other banks were also lower with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropping 4 percent to 528,000 yen.
In South Korea, the Kospi closed down 0.52 percent at 835.50. Samsung Electronics lost 1.55 percent and SK Telecom dropped 1.37 percent in a bad day for the bellwethers.
New Zealand's Top 50 index finished at 2432.5 points, edging down 0.66 percent.
The Taiex was flat, dropping just 0.17 percent to 6241.39. Its key semiconductor companies, Taiwan Semiconductor and United Micro Electronics shed 1.57 and 1.65 percent respectively.
The Hang Seng is holding fairly steady after two negative days sparked by concern over the bird flu.
It is down about 0.15 percent to 13,068.67.
One of the biggest losers is PCCW, which dropped 1.67 percent as profit-takers moved in to capitalise on Tuesday's gain.
In Singapore, the market traded quietly to be off about 0.5 percent at 1836.07 near the close.
The Australian bourse was relatively unaffected by Asia's concerns. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.04 percent to 3265.6.
The market was unmoved by a decision early Wednesday from the Reserve Bank of Australia to maintain the nation's cash rate at 5.25 percent.
Australia's currency closed higher at 76.44 U.S. cents compared with yesterday's close of 76.12.
One of the biggest winners was ANZ Bank, which closed 18c higher at A$17.77. Airline Qantas bucked the negative view towards regional airlines, rising 2.65 percent to A$3.49.
Earlier, on Wall Street Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed marginally higher at 10,505.18 while the S&P 500 was steady and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 3.06 points to 2066.21.
