Asian markets dip on U.S. earnings


Tokyo shares were mainly lower Friday

HONG KONG, China -- Asian markets were mostly lower by midday Friday, dragged down by disappointing earnings from Microsoft and a warning from Nokia.

In Tokyo, hopes for a turnaround in corporate earnings this year capped the downside as the market weakened.

The benchmark Nikkei average ended the morning session down 147.17 points, or 1.27 percent, at 11,428.56. The broader Topix index dipped 11.59 points, or 1.06 percent, to 1,083.70.

In other markets, mining stocks dragged Australia lower, while shares in South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore tracked Wall Street's losses.

But Taiwan edged higher on upbeat earnings, with the Taiex putting on more than 1 percent.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average ended 15.5 points, or 0.15 percent lower, at 10,205.28. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index shed 8.24 points, or 0.46 percent, to 1,802.43 on Microsoft's disappointing quarterly earnings.

Locking profits

Investors in Tokyo locked in profits from Japanese truckmaker Isuzu Motors and consumer electronics giant Sony Corp following recent gains.

Sony tumbled 3.38 percent to 6860 yen. Isuzu lost 2.17 percent to 90 yen, while among other automakers, Toyota Motor and Honda Motor dropped 1.64 percent and 1.97 percent respectively.

Japan's dominant mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo shed 2.66 percent to 329,000 yen. Parent NTT dropped 2.8 percent to 483,000 yen and Kyocera Corp lost 3.56 percent to 8,680 yen.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Holdings slipped 0.71 percent to 281,000 yen and UFJ Holdings lost 0.93 percent to 320,000 yen. But the other two of the "big four" banks rose. SMBC put on 0.52 percent to 578 yen, and MTFG edged ahead 0.1 percent to 875,000 yen.

In South Korea, shares initially edged higher as chip giant Samsung Electronics soared, ahead of the announcement of its first-quarter earnings.

Samsung shares touched a record high of 413,500 before tumbling to 404,500 for a loss of half a percent. The world's largest memory chipmaker reported a record first quarter profit of $1.45 billion.

With a 17 percent market weighting, Samsung's share price fall took the benchmark Kospi down to 932.73, a loss of 5.2 points or 0.56 percent.

Kookmin Bank, South Korea's largest lender, rose 3.29 percent to 62,700 won after it reported a 43 percent rise in its first-quarter earnings.

Miners down

Australian shares slipped slightly, hurt by mining giants and News Corp.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 4.8 points, or 0.15 percent, at 3,401.9 by midday.

Media heavyweight News Corp dropped 1.86 percent to A$12.64 amid concerns that switching auditors would raise the risk of changes in the valuations of some of the group's holdings.

Heavyweight mining stocks BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were off 1.29 percent and 0.94 percent to A$11.51 and A$36.95 respectively on lower copper and aluminum prices.

In Taiwan, stocks defied a downtrend in semiconductor shares to edge higher as banking shares made strong gains on aggressive plans to write off bad debt.

The benchmark Taiex rose 62.59 points, or 1 percent, to 6,449.80.

First Commercial Bank rose 2.14 percent to T$28.71 after saying on Thursday its board decided to sell $131 million in overseas NPLs to Lehman Brothers Commercial Corp Asia.

In the semiconductor sector, TSMC fell 1.05 percent to T$94.50, while rival UMC lost 0.88 percent to T$56.50.

Tracking Wall Street

Singapore shares started the morning lower on worries of more losses in U.S. markets. The key Straits Times Index was down 0.77 percent, or 13.48 points, at 1,734.06.

Venture Manufacturing fell 1.2 percent to S$17.10. But Keppel rose one percent to S$4.06 after it unveiled a first quarter net profit of S$82.08 million late Thursday.

In Hong Kong, stocks edged lower, with the property sector falling on profit-taking and technology shares slumping on Microsoft's earnings result.

The Hang Seng Index was flat, down 2.29 points or 0.02 percent at 11,121.86.

Property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties rose 0.39 percent to HK$64.25. Legend Group, China's biggest computer maker, rose 1.5 percent to HK$3.375.