Tokyo down as big banks tumble


While Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi was in South Korea talking trade with President Kim, the Tokyo market eased

TOKYO, Japan -- Big falls in the banking sector led Tokyo stocks lower in the morning session Friday, after Thursday's vernal equinox holiday.

But most other markets in Asia moved higher, with Taiwan the biggest gainer as chip stocks rallied on Nasdaq's strong performance.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 average was down 113.94 points or 1 percent at 11,412.84, while the broader capital-weighted TOPIX index fell 12.99 points or 1.18 percent to 1,084.86.

Elsewhere in the region, the Kospi in Seoul was up 6.25 points or 0.7 percent to 892.11, as South Korean President Kim Dae-jung hosted a visit from Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The two leaders signed an investment pact Friday.

Australia was essentially flat, with the S&P/ASX200 up just 0.2 points to 3436.3

Hong Kong and Singapore were both slightly higher in late morning trade, with the Hang Seng index up just 2 points and the Straits Times index up 10 points.

Taiwan sets the pace

But Taiwan set the pace, with techs boosting its Taiex to a gain of 136.81 points or 2.26 percent to 6183.33.

That came after the Nasdaq composite index put on almost 2 percent Thursday to reach 1868.83. The Dow Jones industrial average eased 0.2 percent to 10,479.84.

In Tokyo, most of the big banks were sharply lower by midday Friday. Top lender Mizuho Holdings fell 4.82 percent at 296,000 yen and second-largest Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp fell 6.34 percent to 517 yen.

UFJ Holdings was down 3.53 percent to 301,000 yen and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group eased just 0.6 percent to 832,000 yen.

In the high-tech sector, chip and computer makers Toshiba and Fujitsu moved against the downtrend after a Fujitsu spokesman said Thursday the two companies were in talks on cooperation in semiconductors.

Fujitsu rose 2.1 percent to 1063 yen and Toshiba rose 4 percent to 573 yen. Consumer electronics leader Sony was another gainer, putting on 0.3 percent to 6910 yen.

Telco stocks down

But mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo lost 2.34 percent to 1.67 million yen. Its parent NTT fell more sharply, losing 4.4 percent to 495,000 yen

Japanese investor sentiment was marred by a newspaper report that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was not planning additional anti-deflation steps for now, traders told Reuters news agency.

According to Friday's edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily, Koizumi told reporters in South Korea there was no need for fresh anti-deflation measures for the time being.

In Australia, big banks were stronger, with CBA up 0.4 percent to A$31.87.

But resources leaders BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both eased a little, as did market heavyweight News Corp. It slipped 0.4 percent to A$13.45.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics put on 3000 won or 0.9 percent to 344,500 won, while rival chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor jumped 7 percent to 1510 won. Mobile telephone leader SK Telecom added 2.4 percent to 299,000 won.

Chip foundries gain

In Taiwan, chip foundries TSMC and UMC were up 0.53 percent and 0.97 percent respectively to T$94.50 and T$52.00.

In Hong Kong, China Mobile added 1 percent to HK$23.50 and banking leader HSBC put on 0.28 percent to HK$89.75.

Blue chip conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, which reported a profit of HK$12.1 billion late Thursday, rose 1.87 percent to HK$68.25.

In Singapore, carrier Singapore Airlines and bank DBS both rose 0.68 percent.