Tokyo techs slump on U.S. weakness

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks opened sharply lower Wednesday, with weakness in the U.S. flowing through to tech issues such as Sony Corp.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 average fell 1.79 percent or 219.65 points to 12,080.76, while the broader TOPIX index lost 1.48 percent to 1,230.87.

Most other markets in the region also opened lower. Taiwan's Taiex was down 34 points to 4582, while in Seoul the Kospi was down about 9 points to 549.51.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 was just into positive territory, led by gains in the three biggest stocks, Telstra, News Corp and National Australia Bank.

Sony drops again

In Japan, consumer electronics giant Sony dropped 1.8 percent to 7,110 yen, dragging the tech-sensitive Nikkei down. It is close to its one-year low of 7030 yen that it reached on Monday.

"The Nasdaq's steep drop will induce selling in the tech sector, weighing on the market and killing the modest rally we had late yesterday," said Yutaka Miura, deputy manager at Shinko Securities' equity information division.

Japan's dominant mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo, Tokyo's largest issue by market capitalisation, lost 1.93 percent to 2.03 million yen after it said on Tuesday it would repair about 100,000 cell phones supplied by Matsushita Communication Industrial that had software problems.

Grim news on Wall Street

Wall Street came under pressure on grim news from retailers and number one fiber-optic cable maker Corning Inc. Earnings fears knocked the tech-laden U.S. Nasdaq Composite Index back 3.15 percent to 1,962.79, its lowest close since April 17.

Furukawa Electric Co, Japan's top producer of fiber optics, dropped in step with Corning, losing 3.49 percent to 801 yen.

Banking issues were also hit by investor worries. Mizuho Holdings Inc, the world's largest banking group by assets, fell 3.77 percent to 510,000 yen to pare some of Tuesday's 4.54 percent rise.

Reuters contributed to this report.