Asia closes down on weak techs
 |
Shinei Bank ended lower Friday after a spectacular debut a day earlier.
Story Tools
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
|
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.
Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
|
|
(CNN) -- Asian markets have closed narrowly lower, with tech issues easing in line with falls on Wall Street.
Japan's Nikkei 225 average ended down 0.31 percent at 10,720.69, after putting on 0.72 percent in Thursday's session.
The broader Topix index gave up early gains to finish 0.07 percent in the red at 1058.76.
The biggest fall in the region was in South Korea, where the Kospi ended down 0.47 percent.
Other markets traded in a narrow range, with Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan all easing from early gains to end slightly down.
On the currency front, the dollar was stronger, trading at 107.56 yen in Tokyo. It was also firmer against the euro at $1.2701. The Australian dollar has slipped from near seven-year highs to be at 78.78 U.S. cents.
In Tokyo, newly listed Shinsei Bank gave up some of Thursday's massive 57 percent gain on debut. The stock closed 9.5 percent lower at 748 yen.
Other big banks were flat, apart from UFJ, which slipped 1.25 percent to 475,000 yen.
Japan's three biggest automakers were again firmer, with gains of 1.75 percent for Nissan, 0.9 percent for Honda and 0.27 percent for Toyota.
Fourth-ranked Mitsubishi Motors initially fell after predicting more losses ahead, but closed with a 3.2 percent gain to 254 yen. (Full story)
Tech bellwether Advantest was down 2.2 percent and Tokyo Electron finished 1.97 percent lower.
In the consumer electronics field, Sony closed with a gain of 1.1 percent to 4580 yen. Canon rose 0.38 percent to 5250 yen and NEC was 2.1 percent ahead to 805 yen.
But there were falls for Toshiba, Hitachi, Sanyo and Mitsubishi Electric.
In Seoul, the Kospi closed 0.47 percent lower to 877.49. Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom were both in the red, giving back Thursday's gains.
Shinhan was also down, off 2 percent to 22,550 won. Big exporter Hyundai Motor slipped 1 percent to 48,350 won.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 lost 0.21 percent to 3344.1.
Resources leader BHP Billiton continued to post gains after Thursday's strong profit result, adding another 1.2 percent to A$12.35. (Full story)
Telstra was up 0.6 percent to A$4.72. But media heavyweight News Corp. ended down 1.2 percent to A$12.10.
Taiwan's Taiex finished 0.24 percent lower to 6665.54, reflecting softness among tech peers in the United States.
Chip foundry TSMC was steady at T$63.50, while UMC eased 0.3 percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was 0.2 percent in the red at 13,841.10 just before the close.
Leading bank HSBC moved against the trend, up 0.4 percent at HK$127.50. China Mobile and Hutchison Whampoa both eased slightly.
Singapore is virtually flat heading toward the close, with the Straits Times index up 0.04 percent to 1890.77. SingTel, Singapore Airlines and big bank DBS are all slightly in the red.
In New Zealand, the Top 50 was down 0.3 percent to 2426.82. Telecom NZ was off 0.36 percent at NZ$5.61, while Carter Holt Harvey lost about half a percent.
The moves in Asia followed another down day on Wall Street Thursday. The Dow closed just in the red, off 0.07 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 1.47 percent. The index had risen 63 percent from last March. (Full story)
