Asian stocks suffer third down day

HONG KONG, China -- Asian stocks fell on Thursday, with Tokyo drifting more than 1 percent lower.

The Nikkei index closed down 1.18 percent at 10,538.43, for a third day of losses.

The broader Topix index of all first-section stocks dropped 1.45 percent to 1,010.17.

South Korea plummeted more than 3 percent, as investors sold big-cap stocks. It was a dramatic drop toward the close, the index having been only narrowly down in the morning.

In Japan, the yen was trading at 132.22 to the U.S. dollar in late Hong Kong trade on Thursday, having jumped to 133.37 on Wednesday, a new three-year weak level against the buck.

But a former financial diplomat says the currency might even hit 160 against the dollar.

Taiwan scrapes to gain

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended with a decline of 1.6 percent, weighed by its China mobile-phone plays.

Australia, the second-largest Asia Pacific market after Japan, was narrowly in the red. Neighboring New Zealand rose more than 1 percent.

Taiwan stocks scraped out a gain, having fallen at the open after Nasdaq's 0.53 percent drop on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.56 percent in the United States, dealing Asian stocks an early blow.

Against that headwind, not even the weak yen helped Japan stocks into the black. A weaker currency should boost profits of manufacturers like carmakers and electronics manufacturers.

Toyota Motor Co., Japan's largest carmaker, ended unchanged at 3,490 yen. Japanese officials are thought to favor a weaker yen to fuel a rebound.

But currency traders have also noted that a weak yen also expresses a lack of confidence in Japan. Other experts note cheaper exports matter little if there's no demand.

Nintendo fell 3.54 percent to 21,530 yen.

But electronics maker Sony Corp. gained 2.5 percent to 6,550 yen after saying its sales of PlayStation 2 more than doubled in Japan and the United States over the holidays.

Korea's Kospi sinks

In South Korea, the Kospi crunched down 3.1 percent to 728.23.

Samsung Electronics, the largest listing, fell 4.5 percent to 308,000. It is Seoul's largest stock and a favorite of overseas funds.

Another, cell phone operator SK Telecom, dropped 4.7 percent to 251,000 won.

Samsung could face a larger competitor for its memory chips if Micron Technology indeed buys much of the chip operations of Hynix Semiconductor.

A report suggests that deal may close next week. Hynix ended down 3.2 percent at 3,225 won on Thursday, matching the Kospi's fall, after jumping the daily limit of 15 percent the day before.

In Taiwan, the Taiex index nudged to another nine-month high, building on yesterday's high-water mark with a 0.1 percent ministep to 5,871.28.

Chip foundries get no rise out of higher sales

Electronics stocks slipped after Nasdaq's drop and saw the Taiex in the red early in the day. Bank stocks also ended down.

The top two listings in Taipei, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and United Microelectronics Corp. gave positive sales numbers for November after the close of trade on Wednesday.

But the market clearly wanted more. TSMC ended down 1.1 percent to T$90.50 on Thursday, while UMC fell 3.2 percent to T$48.90.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index slipped into the red by the close. It ended down 0.05 percent at 3,414.3.

Normandy conquest nears end?

The battle for Normandy Mining is reaching a climax, with AngloGold's bid due to expire after Friday's close. The company has suggested it may extend the offer.

Normandy, Australia's biggest gold miner, rose 2.7 percent to A$1.88.

AngloGold's rival, Newmont Mining, has put in a higher offer. But it is contingent on its stock price, which has been slipping.

Banks were lower. National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank, the two largest, both dropped 0.6 percent, to A$31.03 and A$29.53 respectively.

News Corp., Sydney's largest listing, was steady at A$15.40. A media shakeup is in the offing in Australia, but Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. now gets most of its sales in the United States.

In Wellington, New Zealand's main NZSE-40 capital index rose 1.08 percent to close at 2,107.20. That was its first close above 2,100 since May 2001.

Telecom New Zealand again accounted for most of the traffic and the gain, easing toward the close but still powering ahead 3.2 percent to NZ$5.42.

HSBC down again

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.6 percent to 11,256.07. Like Japan, that marked a third down day in a row.

Again, China Mobile suffered after Beijing opted to carve out two new mobile-phone licenses.

The mainland's main cell-phone operator fell 4.3 percent to HK$24.30. Smaller rival China Unicom suffered a similar fate, down 3.01 percent to HK$8.05.

Hong Kong's largest listing, HSBC, closed down 1.6 percent at HK$90, the bank down after earnings downgrades from Goldman Sachs and Salomon Smith Barney.

In mainland China, Shanghai B shares broke their heavy losses to end up 2.07 percent. Shenzhen B shares lifted 2.5 percent.

Early jitters evaporated but investors are still watching whether China will begin to offload some its stock holdings, which could flood the market.

The Singapore Straits Times index was up 1.06 percent to 1,704.9 in the last hour of trade. It was another strong showing after Wednesday's rise, again bucking most Asian markets.

Singapore techs have largely ignored Wall Street declines. But investors warn the market might now be overpriced.

Indian stocks were trading down in early afternoon, the Bombay Stock Exchange off 0.49 percent on tech share losses.

The market was digesting third-quarter earnings from Infosys Technologies that met expectations.