Tokyo leads Asia to lower close


Japanese banks led by UFJ moved against the downward trend Monday

HONG KONG, China -- Tokyo fell for the third straight day Monday as tech weakness stemming from Wall Street's retreat dragged most Asian markets lower. Taiwan was the exception, hitting a 17-month high.

In Japan, the tech-sensitive Nikkei 225 share average finished the day down 83.99 points, or 0.74 percent, to 11,261.09, while the broader capital-weighted Topix index dropped 3.43 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1073.20.

The Nikkei is now down 5.5 percent from the March 11 close of 11,919, which was a seven-month high.

Japan's big four banks moved against the downward trend Monday after a report in the Nihon Keizai business daily that the banks would cut some deposit rates at the end of this week. UFJ Holdings did best, up 2 percent to 300,000 yen.

In other markets in the region, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong were all weaker by the close. Korea's Kospi had the biggest fall, down 1.85 percent to 879.41.

Taiwan, New Zealand up

But Taiwan shares rose, with the Taiex up 78.75 points or 1.28 percent to 6219.17, its highest close since October 2000. Gainers included computer maker Asustek and textile leader Far East Textile, which rose almost 5 percent.

New Zealand's Top 40 index jumped 10.47 points or half a percent to 2070.45 on expectations of a good GDP number later this week.

On Friday, the Dow lost 0.5 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.93 percent.

In Tokyo, Sony Corp fell 2.3 percent to 6770 yen and Kyocera lost 3.53 percent to 9290 yen. Internet investor Softbank was down 1.3 percent to 2240 yen.

NEC Corp tumbled 4.22 percent to 1,111 yen. Hitachi was down 2 percent to 949 yen and Fujitsu dropped 3.8 percent to 1016 yen, but Toshiba edged just into the black, up 2 yen or 0.35 percent to 569 yen.

Japan's dominant mobile telco NTT DoCoMo added 0.6 percent to 1.68 million yen as investors sought rights to its five-for-one stock split. Monday was the last day for the rights.

Big banks firmer

In the banking sector, Mizuho Holdings firmed 1.68 percent to 302,000 yen, while UFJ Holdings climbed 2.04 percent to 300,000 yen after hitting 315,000 earlier in the day.

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group rose 0.74 percent to 817,000 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp added 1.74 percent to 525 yen.

Japan's leading carmaker Toyota Motor squeaked into the black, up 10 yen or 0.27 percent to 3770 yen, while Honda Motor was unchanged at 5450 yen. Nissan did better, adding 8 yen or 0.87 percent to 929 yen.

In Seoul, shares were sharply lower.

The benchmark Kospi slipped 1.85 percent to 879.41, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics down 3 percent to 340,000 won. Rival Hynix Semiconductor lost 3.6 percent to 1465 won, and mobile phone leader SK Telecom dropped 3.4 percent to 285,000 won.

In Australia, stocks were slightly weaker. The benchmark S&P/ASX 20 index fell 9.1 points, or 0.27 percent, at 3,424.7. Media giant News Corp lost 0.8 percent to A$13.34.

Resources leader BHP Billiton fell 1.5 percent but gold miner Newcrest jumped. Banks were mixed, while in retail, Coles Myer shares were placed in a trading halt ahead of the company's release of a five-year strategy on Tuesday.

In Singapore, the benchmark Straits Times Index was down 7.45 points or 0.41 percent to 1,792.75 in late afternoon trade.

Telco SingTel was down 0.62 percent to S$1.60, while bank leader DBS added 10 cents or 0.68 percent to S$14.70.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gave up 26.43 points or 0.24 percent at 10,836.64. Telco PCCW lost 2.4 percent at HK$2.00. China Unicom fell 0.68 percent to HK$7.25 and No. 1 China Mobile eased 1 percent to HK$23.05.