Asian markets mixed by midday


Investors are expected to keep a close eye on electronics titan Sony Corp as it unveils its earnings

HONG KONG, China -- Asian markets were mixed by midday Wednesday, with Tokyo ending the morning lower as investors awaited the release of earnings results and forecasts by high-tech firms.

The benchmark Nikkei average fell 0.37 percent, or 43.30 points, to 11,693.53, while the broader Topix index lost 0.35 percent, or 3.83 points, to 1100.67.

In other markets, South Korea, Australia and Singapore were all lower following the fresh falls Tuesday on Wall Street.

But Hong Kong stayed just in positive territory, while Taiwan was about 1 percent higher.

U.S. stocks slumped Tuesday on dismal earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.47 percent, while the tech-packed Nasdaq lost 1.61 percent.

Earnings results and forecasts

Japan's 10 biggest consumer and industrial electronics manufacturers will announce 2001-02 results and 2002-03 forecasts on Thursday and Friday.

Consumer electronics giant Sony Corp, which is due to release its earnings report later in the day, fell 0.99 percent to 6970 yen.

In the telecom sector, Japan Telecom fell 1.92 percent to 409,000 yen after the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily reported its mobile unit J-Phone would delay the launch of its 3G service to December from June.

Elsewhere, Japan's largest online broker E Trade Japan KK surged 6.06 percent to 140,000 yen after posting a substantial rise in recurring profit and sales.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Holdings dropped 1.07 percent to 278,000 yen, while Sumitomo and Mitsui lost 0.85 percent to 584 yen.

Carmaker Toyota Motor shed 1.08 percent to 3650 yen, while rival Honda Motor added 1.43 percent to 5670 yen.

In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi was down 13.01 points or 1.41 percent at 912.69, while the over-the-counter Kosdaq slipped 0.38 percent to 80.71.

Chip giant Samsung Electronics fell 3,000 won to 424,000 won on rumors the stock was overbought.

But mid-priced stocks helped cap losses. Fixed-line operator KT rose 500 won to 57,700 won.

Mayne down

Australian shares slipped for the second straight day after health care and logistics provider Mayne Group stunned the market with a profit warning late Tuesday.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.93 percent to 3,372.4 in learly afternoon trade.

Shares in Mayne plummeted 28 percent soon after opening and were trading down 23 percent at A$4.04 after it said a slide in hospital earnings had forced it to cut its annual profit outlook.

Falling commodity prices dragged on major miners. BHP Billiton lost 1.1 percent to A$11.25 and Rio Tinto fell 1.5 percent to A$35.87.

Leading telco Telstra eased 0.6 percent to A$5.18.

In Taiwan, stocks rose on positive March export orders and strong industrial output figures.

The benchmark Taiex rose 60.56 points or 0.95 percent to 6451.18.

AU Optronics, the world's third largest computer display panel maker, rose 2.78 percent, to T$55.50, while UMC added 0.89 percent to T$56.50. TSMC was up 0.53 percent to T$94.50.

In Singapore, the bellwether Straits Times Index was down 0.21 percent to 1736.74.

Creative Technology lost 0.44 percent at S$22.60 after jumping to S$22.70 in the previous session.

In Hong Kong, shares were steady in morning trade as gains in property and mobile phone stocks offset losses in oil giants CNOOC and personal computer maker Legend Group.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 4.5 points or 0.04 percent at 11,349.68.

Property groups Hang Lung, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land and New World Development were up between 1.23 percent and 1.65 percent.

But shares of China's biggest offshore oil producer CNOOC fell 4.27 percent to HK$10.10.