Asian markets tumble, led by S Korea


Investors in Tokyo kept a close eye on electronics firms that are posting earnings and forecasts Thursday and Friday

HONG KONG, China -- Key Asian markets closed lower Thursday, led by a sharp drop in South Korea after further falls in technology shares on Wall Street.

Seoul's Kospi index fell 4.7 percent, Taiwan's Taiex was off 1.55 percent and in Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei average slipped 24.16 points or 0.21 percent to 11,648.72.

The broader capital-weighted Topix index shed just 0.4 points or 0.04 percent to 1098.32.

After the close Japan's big electronics companies began releasing results for 2001-02 and their forecasts for the year to next March.

Chip giant Toshiba said it had an operating loss of 114 billion yen ($877 million) in the year just completed, but is forecasting a sharp recovery to an operating profit of 130 billion yen ($1 billion) in the current fiscal year. It jumped 4.87 percent to 603 yen.

In other markets, Hong Kong closed slightly higher and Singapore was flat. Australia and New Zealand markets were closed for the ANZAC holiday and will resume trading on Friday.

In the U.S. onn Wednesday, the Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.98 percent to 1713.34, while the Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.58 percent to 10,030.43.

Earnings and forecasts


The success of PlayStation 2 helped Sony deliver an optimistic forecast for the year to March 2003

In Japan, Sony, the world's largest audio-visual electronics maker, rose 130 yen or 1.85 percent to 7150 yen.

After the close, Sony said it expects group operating profit to rise 108 percent to 280 billion yen ($2.16 billion) in the year that began on April 1. It attributed the rosy forecast in part to the success of its PlayStation 2 game machine.

Among other computer and chip-makers, Fujitsu added 1.44 percent to 1060 yen and NEC rose 0.77 percent to 1049 yen. Hitachi, which reports its results Friday, was up 0.62 percent to 976 yen.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Holdings slumped 5.82 percent to 259,000 yen, UFJ Holdings was steady at 320,000 yen and MTFG was up 0.67 percent to 900,00 yen. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp slipped half a percent to 570 yen.

In South Korea, shares dipped sharply on weakness in the U.S. and concerns about the LG Group's equity deals.

The benchmark Kospi fell 43.11 points or 4.71 percent to 872.58.

Chip giant and market heavyweight Samsung Electronics dropped 19, 000 won or 4.4 percent to 413,000 won. SK Telecom was down 1.5 percent to 261,000 won and KT Corp fell 3.5 percent to 54,800 won.

Taiwan down

Taiwan's benchmark Taiex index gave up almost 100 points, dropping 1.55 percent to 6355.59 as tech issues eased on Wall Street's woes.

World microchip foundry leader TSMC fell 3.16 percent to T$92 and rival UMC was off 2.65 percent to T$55. Tech bellwether Hon Hai Precision dropped 3.77 percent to T$153 and Asustek Computer tumbled 6.7 percent to T$139.

Singapore shares were flat, with the Straits Times Index off 3.13 points or 0.18 percent to 1,731.58 late in the day.

Banking leader DBS Holdings rose 2.19 percent to S$14. OCBC was unchanged at S$13.20 and Singapore Airlines was up 0.7 percent to S$14.10. But Creative Technology fell 1.31 percent to S$22.60.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index put on 12.72 points or 0.11 percent at 11,409.29.

Global banking giant HSBC was up 0.55 percent at HK$91.75. China Mobile rose 1.6 percent to HK$25.45 on hopes of subscriber growth, while rival China Unicom eased 0.65 percent to HK$7.70.

Property plays were also higher. But micro motor maker Johnson Electric fell 4 percent to HK$11.85.