Tokyo down, but Australia, Korea gain


The Nikkei gave up early gains Thursday to be down 1.2 percent by midday

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks were mixed by midday Thursday, with gains by leading banks offsetting losses among some tech stocks.

The tech-sensitive Nikkei 225 reversed its early gains and ended the morning session down 125.53 points or 1.20 percent at 10,346.40.

The broader capital-weighted TOPIX index posted a smaller loss, down 0.51 point or 0.05 percent to 996.15. It was underpinned by a 1.40 percent rise in the banking sector.

Elsewhere in the region, markets in Australia and Korea were stronger, but New Zealand weakened, as did Hong Kong heading towards midday.

Singapore's Straits Times index was flat, up less than 1 point at 1596. Taiwan was marginally stronger, up 12 points to 5234.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 added 12.7 points or 0.38 percent to 3336.8. New Zealand's Top 40 was off 5.4 points to 2028.53, while in Seoul the Kospi put on 7.65 points or 1.2 percent to 654.7.

SK Telecom big mover in Seoul

SK Telecom was one of the morning's big gainers, adding 11,500 won or 4.7 percent to 255,500 won.


NTT and its mobile arm NTT DoCoMo made good gains Thursday

In Tokyo, while tech leaders such as Canon and Sony slipped Thursday, banks were the big movers after the central Bank of Japan's credit easing the previous day.

Asahi Bank climbed 7.14 percent to 75 yen, while Mizuho Holdings added 6000 yenor 2.6 percent to 235,000 yen.

Among other oversold low-priced issues, trading house Marubeni Corp jumped 13.33 percent to 68 yen.

"The BOJ's easing is cheering up the market because that's surely going to help corporate funding in coming months by sending three-month money market rates lower," Akio Yoshino, general manager at SG Yamaichi Asset Management, told Reuters news agency.

Copier and camera maker Canon slipped 1.52 percent to 4530 yen after a 1.09 percent retreat in the tech-laden Nasdaq below the key 2,000 mark.

Canon had risen nearly seven percent in the previous two sessions when it hit a five-month high of 4,630 yen.

Chipmakers give ground

Sony was off 60 yen or 1 percent to 5900 yen, while chipmakers Toshiba, Hitachi, NEC and Fujitsu also gave ground.

Automakers Toyota and Nissan also weakened, but No. 3 maker Honda put on 10 yen to 4960 yen.

Telco giant NTT recovered from its record low earlier this week, adding 10,000 yen to 413,000 yen Thursday morning. Its mobile arm, NTT DoCoMo, put on 30,000 yen or 2 percent to 1.49 million yen.

Reuters contributed to this report.