Tokyo leads Asian markets down


Banks dragged the Tokyo market lower on fears about their extent of bad loans

HONG KONG, China -- The battered Tokyo stock market led key Asian bourses down Tuesday after expectations of specific economic recovery steps in Japan failed to materialize.

The benchmark Nikkei average ended down 246.09 points, or 2.44 percent, at 9,847.14, while the broader Topix index fell 21.72 points, or 2.21 percent, at 959.96.

Observers had hoped U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Japan and his meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would produce measures to reinvigorate Japan's troubled economy, tackle deflation and stabilize the banking system.

But little emerged from Bush's visit beyond expressions of support and friendship.

In other Asian markets, Korea, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan all finished lower.

In Seoul the Kospi ended just over 1 percent percent lower, dragged down by chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor.

Australia ends flat

Australia ended the day flat on mixed corporate earnings. Taiwan fell on heavy selling.

In Hong Kong, stocks were hit by a slide in property shares, while in Singapore, the Straits Times index slipped on dull 2001 results from banking leader DBS.

Wall Street's closure on Monday for the U.S. Presidents' Day holiday also failed to provide fresh leads for the Asian markets.

Tokyo's top lender Mizuho Holdings plummeted 7.36 percent to 214,000 yen, while UFJ Holdings, the smallest among Japan's four mega-banks, lost 6.76 percent to 276,000 yen.

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group gave up 4.71 percent to 769,000 yen while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp dropped 5.64 percent to 452 yen.

Bucking the downtrend, however, was Sony Corp. The consumer electronics giant rose 1.82 percent to 6200 yen, on reports it would likely lift its operating profit to 270 billion yen ($2.04 billion) in the year starting in April.

That compares with a 130 billion yen profit forecast for the year to March.

Japan's largest car manufacturer, Toyota Motor fell 4.53 percent at 3,370 yen, while Honda Motor dropped 3.35 percent at 4,900 yen.

Hynix down

Seoul's benchmark stock index finished lower. Investors shunned Hynix Semiconductor after alliance talks with U.S. bidder Micron Technology bogged down.

The benchmark Kospi ended down 1.02 percent at 782.27, while the over-the-counter Kosdaq shed 0.26 percent to 75.85.

Hynix dropped 5.8 percent to close at 1,800 won in a four-day losing streak, weighed down by uncertainty surrounding talks on selling its memory business to rival Micron.

Top mobile carrier SK Telecom ended at 250,000 won, down 3.1 percent.

But South Korea's number two carmaker, Kia Motors closed 3.7 percent higher at 11,200 won after posting a 67 percent surge in 2001 net profit.

In Australia, shares finished flat with investors quick to mark down companies that failed to meet expectations during the corporate earnings season.

Leightons hit hard

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up just 0.03 percent at 3,470.4.

Building contractor Leighton Holdings was hardest hit, falling 5.2 percent to A$9.78 after it announced a 14 percent rise in interim net profit, well below market expectations of 22 percent growth.

After rushing to record highs on Monday on news they were contemplating a merger, shares in Australian Pharmaceutical Industries and Sigma Company both retreated in Tuesday trade.

Sigma fell 23 cents to A$4.60 and API lost nine cents to A$4.28.

Resistance hit at 6,000

Taiwan stocks closed almost two percent lower as investors cashed in on high-flying tech shares after the main index failed to hold above key resistance at 6,000 points.

The main Taiex index ended down 106.95 points or 1.79 percent at 5,861.66.

United Microelectronics Corp, the world's second largest contract chipmaker, fell 3.51 percent to T$44 after Japanese electronics giant Hitachi Ltd said it will acquire the 40-percent stake UMC holds in a Hitachi joint venture for around $80 million.

In Singapore, the key share index eased, depressed by sales of DBS Group shares after the bank's 2001 results came in below expectations.

By the midday break, the Straits Times Index had slipped 1.23 percent or 21.58 points to 1,739.16.

DBS was among the top losers, falling 2.05 percent to S$14.30.

The bank posted a 28 percent fall in 2001 net profit to S$999 million ($546 million) due to sharply higher provisions for bad loans and a goodwill writedown from last year's S$10 billion purchase of Hong Kong's Dao Heng Bank.

HK property down

In Hong Kong, stocks were dampened by heavy selling in property shares, as investors again fretted over price prospects in a stagnant real estate sector.

Prices have slumped 50-60 percent from their 1997 peak.

The Hang Seng Index slipped 1.5 percent, or 162.32 points, to 10,840.49.

Among the top blue chip losers were developers like Henderson Land, Cheung Kong Holdings and Sino Land, which fell between 2.33 percent and 2.44 percent.