Nikkei opens weaker on softer techs


NTT DoCoMo was down more than 4 percent in early trade Wednesday

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks opened weaker Wednesday on profit-taking among tech stocks and a reaction to a soft performance by U.S. markets.

Also weighing on the market is the expectation that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will go ahead with a second extra budget of 2 to 3 trillion yen ($16-24 billion), with an emphasis on urban renewal.

The Nikkei was down 56 points or 0.54 percent to 10,518.96 while the broader capital-weighted TOPIX index was down 0.8 percent or 8.35 points to 1,047.23.

Leading chipmaker Toshiba, which had risen 17.5 percent during the four sessions through Monday, fell 3.18 percent to 517 yen Wednesday, while chip and computer maker Fujitsu Ltd lost 2.1 percent to 979.

Hitachi was down 2.3 percent to 909 yen, while consumer electronics giant Sony was off 100 yen or about 2 percent to 5540 yen.

Correction 'inevitable'

"The rebound in technology stocks was so big that some correction is inevitable," Masayoshi Okamoto, a trader at Jujiya Securities, told Reuters news agency.

Among banks, Asahi Bank rose 4.26 percent to 98 yen on hopes the lender was through the worst after its announcement on Tuesday that it would become the country's first top bank to post losses for the full year.

Banking giant Mizuho Holdings was marginally higher, up 0.6 percent to 332,000 yen, while rival UFJ Holdings was down 1.7 percent to 441,000 yen.

Among automakers, leader Toyota was up, putting on 30 yen or 0.9 percent to 3280 yen, while No. 2 carmaker Nissan lost 18 yen or 2.9 percent to 597 yen and third-ranked Honda eased 2.2 percent or 110 yen to 4730 yen.

Leading mobile telco NTT DoCoMo was down 4.1 percent or 70,000 yen to 1.61 million yen, while smaller rival KDDI was down 1.6 percent to 315,000 yen. Japan Telecom lost 4000 yen to 395,000 yen.

Australia, NZ, Korea also down

Other markets in the region also were weaker, with Australia, New Zealand and Korea all easing in morning trade. Korea's Kospi lost 2.33 points or 0.4 percent to 614.0.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 was down 8.2 points to 3344.6, with resources stock WMC in a trading halt. In New Zealand, the Top 40 index lost 13.27 points or 0.65 percent to 2029.22.

The moves in Asia followed a weaker close Tuesday in the U.S., with the Dow Jones industrial average down 75.08 points or 0.75 percent to 9901.38 and the Nasdaq composite off 53.91 points or 2.79 percent to 1880.51.

Reuters contributed to this report.