Tokyo slips on bank selloff


NTT DoCoMo and other tech stocks slipped in morning trade Friday

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks slipped lower by midday Friday as the selling of big banks continued. Most other markets in the region also were weaker.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average fell 35.25 points or 0.34 percent to 10,398.20, while the broader capital-weighted TOPIX index ended the morning down 13.69 points or 1.35 percent at 999.24.

That was the first time it had dipped below the key 1000 mark since September 27.

Japanese banks touched record lows in Friday morning trade, with UFJ down 5.26 percent to 270,000 yen and Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest bank by assets, down 2.8 percent to 243,000 yen.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking plunged more than 6 percent to 496 yen, and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group lost 2.5 percent to 783,000 yen.

Fear of corporate failures

A recent spell of corporate failures has stoked investor fears over credit risks facing major creditors.

"Selling on banks seem to be getting out of hand," Masaru Morooka, equities general manager at Chuo Securities, told Reuters news agency.

"It looks like some of the banks have totally lost the market's confidence."

Asahi lost 16.67 percent to 60 yen, after touching a year-to-date low of 57 yen, while Daiwa Bank Holdings plunged 13.33 percent to 65 yen. Asahi is set to join Daiwa Holdings next year.

Tech stocks were also lower, with mobile telco NTT DoCoMo losing 3.36 percent or 50,000 yen to 1.44 million yen. Consumer electronics leader Sony was down 2.2 percent to 5750 yen.

The drop in U.S. retail sales is likely to hurt electronics exporters such as Sony and Canon, which was down 3.7 percent to 4350 yen.

Nissan Motor moved against the trend, up 2 yen or 0.33 percent to 609 yen. Other automakers Toyota and Honda were both lower.

Australia, NZ, Korea all weaker

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 lost 17.1 points or just over half a percent to 3295.5, with big banks NAB, CBA and ANZ about the only gainers among bluechips. Heavyweight News Corp lost 2 percent to A$15.11.

New Zealand's Top 40 was off 22 points or 1 percent to 2052.14.

In Seoul, the Kospi was marginally lower, down 3.2 points or 0.47 percent at 673.27. Tech issues such as Samsung Electronics, Hynix Semiconductor and SK Telecom were all weaker.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down about 150 points or 1.3 percent in late morning trade, at 11,383. In Singapore the Straits Times index was roughly similar, down 1.29 percent or 20.2 points to 1549.50.

Only Taiwan bucked the trend -- as it has done since the December 1 elections there. The Taiex added another 45 points or about 0.84 percent to 5453.17. It has added more than 20 percent in the past two weeks.

Reuters contributed to this report.