Japan, Korea take markets lower


By midday Friday, the Nikkei 225 average was down half a percent from Thursday's close of 10,081

TOKYO, Japan -- Most markets in Asia were lower by midday Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 average easing half a percent after opening higher.

Korea's Kospi was down almost 1 percent from Thursday's 21-month record close, while Australia and New Zealand were marginally lower.

Singapore, too, was in the red heading for midday.

But Hong Kong, returning from a three-day break for the Lunar New Year holidays, traded strongly Friday morning.

Its Hang Seng index was up 147 points or 1.36 percent to 10,979.70 near midday.

In Japan, the Nikkei lost 55.54 points, or 0.55 percent, to 10,025.55. The broader capital weighted Topix index, covering all of the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, was down 6.87 points, or 0.7 percent, to 977.17.

Consumer electronics leaders Sony and Matsushita Electric both eased about 1.5 percent, while telcos NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Japan Telecom also weakened.

DoCoMo lost just over 2 percent to 1.41 million yen.

Carmakers higher


Bank UFJ added 6000 yen or 2.14 percent

Leading automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda were all higher, as were big banks UFJ Holdings, Mizuho Holdings, Mitsbishi Tokyo Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking.

UFJ added 6000 yen or 2.14 percent to 286,000 yen, while Mizuho put on 3000 yen or 1.29 percent to 235,000 yen.

On Thursday, the Nikkei average had closed up 112.74 points or 1.13 percent, to add more than 660 points or 7 percent in five trading sessions.

Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi earlier this week directed his Cabinet ministers to prepare more aggressive measures to fight deflation, as the world's second largest economy struggles to free itself from recession.

The Japanese economy and Koizumi's restructuring efforts are expected to be key components of the agenda when Koizumi meets U.S. president George W. Bush in Tokyo on Monday.

Market movements in Asia Friday followed a gain on Wall Street for the Dow Jones industrial average, which put on 12.32 points or 0.12 percent to close at 10,001.99 Thursday. But the Nasdaq composite lost 15.79 points or 0.85 percent to 1843.37.

BHP, Rio Tinto easier

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down just 1.6 points to 3485.4 at midday.

Resources giant BHP Billiton retreated from its record levels set the previous day, losing 3.3 percent or 41 cents to A$11.98. Late Thursday it reported a record half-year profit of close to $1.2 billion.

Resources rival Rio Tinto was also lower, down 1.81 percent to A$40.60 after touching a record high of A$41.50 on Thursday.

Market heavyweight News Corp bounced back, adding 37 cents or 3.0 percent to A$12.70.

In Seoul, the Kospi eased after big tech issues Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom lost ground. Samsung Electronics was off 2.25 percent and SK Telecom lost just under 1 percent.

Hynix Semiconductor slumped 10 percent to 2120 won on reports its mooted deal with Micron is still some way off.

Hyundai Motor was up strongly, putting on 2450 won or 7.4 percent to 35,450 won.

In New Zealand, the NZSE Top 40 was off 13.46 points or 0.65 percent to 2068.70. In Singapore, the Straits Times index was 6 points lower at 1768 near midday.

In contrast, markets in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were higher