Tokyo, Hong Kong end the week down

By Staff and wire reports

HONG KONG, China -- Tokyo led the way as Asian markets trended down on Friday. Taiwan also closed down, with Hong Kong following suit.

But Australia and Korea closed up.

Tokyo stocks fell for the fourth straight session and are unlikely to change direction soon. Heavy derivatives-related sales will likely put a lot of pressure on Japanese stocks next week.

The benchmark Nikkei average slipped 0.9 percent to 13,765.92. The broader capital-weighted Topix shed 0.4 percent to 1,359.98.

There were sharp losses in the banking sector. Promises of future profits from lenders gave way to concerns about their debt-laden balance sheets.

Banks in earnings season

Japan's big banks are in earnings season. Analysts haven't expected great things due to an overhang from a vast amount of bad loans. But they say they might as well get the worst over with.

UFJ Holdings, the nation's fourth-biggest banking group, slid 4.9 percent to 759,000 yen. It announced Friday that it went deep into the red for the year ended March after taking heavy costs to deal with its mountainous bad loans.

One money manager said banks are vulnerable to further downswings in the economy, which is still in an unpredictable state.

Mizuho Holdings, the world's largest banking group, was down 3.3 percent at 671,000 yen. It announces earnings after the close.

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group fell 3.3 percent to 1.18 million yen after rallying Thursday on a smaller than expected losses.

Select techs gain

Rises in shares with strong earnings prospects underpinned the market. Select tech shares saw buying after Nasdaq's 1.7 percent rise overnight.

Electronics titan Sony Corp. ended up 0.5 percent at 10,000 yen. Toshiba Corp., the nation's number one chip maker, rose 1.1 percent.

Nintendo Co. jumped 5.4 percent to 22,350 yen after its earnings came in line with expectations on Thursday. The weak results by the world's second-largest home videogame maker had been factored in.

Hong Kong down, Sydney narrowly up

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.4 percent. It ended the week at 13,753.99.

China shares were outperforming the market earlier in the day, as they have in recent sessions.

Interest-rate sensitive stocks were rising after a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan suggested the possibility of more U.S. rate cuts.

Interest rates in Hong Kong follow U.S. rates, with the Hong Kong dollar pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Australian stocks ended near another all-time high. Investors cautiously committed more money to the market amid growing optimism that earnings will hold firm in the face of a slowdown in the domestic economy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.3 percent higher, at 3,426.1.

Australian stocks, which have benefited over other Asian markets recently due to a lack of technology exposure, traded in a narrow, 20-point range all day. They quickly shook off a small loss in very early trade.

The index is not far off the all-time high it set Wednesday, of 3,444.3.

Media giant News Corp. -- which dominates the index, with a weighting of almost 11 percent -- led the gains as it rose 77 cents or 4.5 percent to A$17.97.

Stocks were also up in New Zealand. The benchmark NZSE-40 cap index gained 0.2 percent to 2,052.72.

In Taipei, the benchmark Taiex index closed down 1.1 percent at 5,170.08. Taiwan's economy and stocks normally map Nasdaq, with their large amount of semiconductor exports.

But Taiwan's economy is also growing slower than expected. Chinese military exercises were also spooking the market.

Microchip maker Macronix closed down 0.3 percent at T$35.80 after surging for three days.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi ended the week on an up note. It closed at 624.11 Friday, a gain of 1.83 points.

The steadier won and Nasdaq gains boosted stocks. Investors were buying Hynix Semiconductor, the world's largest memory-chip maker, which rose 10.6 percent to 4,420 won.

Samsung Electronics sold off after an analyst's downgrade.

Stocks were also narrowly down in Singapore in afternoon trading.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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