Nikkei eases, other markets up


Consumer electronics leaders Sony and Canon were among tech stocks to gain by midday Wednesday

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks were easier by midday Wednesday as investors took profits from gains the previous day in technology issues such as Toshiba and Kyocera.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average finished the morning session down 34.19 points or 0.33 percent at 10,397.98, while the broader capital-weighted TOPIX index lost 1.29 points or 0.13 percent to 991.32.

Other markets in the region were mainly higher, with Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore all making gains. Taiwan slipped slightly, down about half a percent.

Late morning buying in Tokyo limited falls among top Japanese banks.

The big four of UFJ Holdings, Mizuho Holdings, Mitsubishi Toyo Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp were all higher.

Sumitomo Mitsui jumps 7 percent

Sumitomo Mitsui (up 7 percent or 34 yen to 519 yen) and Mitsubishi Tokyo (up 44,000 yen or 5.7 percent to 816,000 yen) were the star performers.

UFJ rose 1.28 percent to 238,000 yen after falling to a record low of 225,000 yen in early trade.

"Getting back to reality, it will be highly unlikely to see top banks fail or go under state control. Overly biased speculation needs to be corrected from time to time," Shinobu Kasaya, senior portfolio manager at Pictet Asset Management, told Reuters news agency.

The Nikkei's early rise, backed by firmness in U.S. tech issues, had stopped at 10,500.44, hit by concerns over credit risks at home and fears of poor earnings by U.S. technology firms that are to start reporting fourth-quarter results in January.

The buy-backs in bank issues were partly encouraged by Wednesday morning's comments by a Japanese government official that he would not be surprised to see the BOJ ease monetary policy when the meeting ends later in the day.

Speculation on looser BOJ policy

There has been speculation that the BOJ may further loosen its easy monetary policy, possibly by increasing its outright buying of Japanese government bonds.

The yen was weaker again Wednesday morning, drifting out to about 128.21 against the U.S. dollar. A weaker yen is good for exporters such as Sony and Toyota.

Toshiba slumped 2.18 percent to 449 yen despite news that it had become the last of Japan's big chipmakers to throw in the towel on making standard computer memory chips, abandoning partnership talks with Germany's Infineon Technology and selling off a U.S. plant.

Consumer electronics leader Sony was up 30 yen or 0.5 percent to 5980 yen, while Canon was up 0.6 percent or 30 yen to 4580 yen.

No. 1 automaker Toyota dropped 1 percent to 2990 yen, but rival Nissan jumped 2.2 percent to 854 yen.

Lend Lease up on U.K. deal

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up slightly, putting on 7 points or 0.2 percent to 3327.5. Property group Lend Lease was up 1.7 percent to A$11.97 after winning development rights for the troubled London Dome and the surrounding Greenwich peninsula.

Market heavyweights News Corp, Telstra and NAB eased, but other big banks CBA, ANZ and Westpac were higher.

In Seoul, the Kospi was up 5.35 points or 0.8 percent to 649.11. Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom gained, but Hynix Semiconductor tumbled 100 won or 4.8 percent to 1980 won after news that potential suitor Micron would buy a U.S. chip plant from Japan's Toshiba.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up about 1 percent in the runup to midday, while Singapore's Straits Times index was about 12.5 points or 0.8 percent higher at 1596.1.

Reuters contributed to this report.