Korea, Taiwan take Asian markets lower


South Korea's market was down more than 2 percent by noon Monday

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Asian markets are lower by midday Monday, with Taiwan and South Korea both down sharply on U.S. jobless data and specific local factors.

Taiwan took the heaviest hit from figures showing the U.S. unemployment rate hit 6 percent in April, the worst rate in more than seven years. The Taiex plunged 274.49 points or 4.64 percent to 5635.83.

In Seoul the Kospi is down 20.03 points or 2.34 percent to 836.69, while in Australia the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is off 22.6 points or 0.67 percent to 3343.4.

Despite optimism about the South Korean business outlook, mixed signals on the strength of the U.S. recovery has raised concerns for export-oriented companies such as makers of motor vehicles and consumer electronics.

Singapore, which unveiled its budget on Friday, is also softer, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index is flat, down about a third of a percent.

The region's main market, Japan, is closed Monday for a national holiday but will resume trading on Tuesday. Markets in Thailand and China are also closed.

Hynix weighs on the market


Creditors of Hynix want to split up and sell the memory chipmaker

On the Taipei bourse, Taiwan's leading chip foundry TSMC tumbled 5.3 percent to T$80.50, while No. 2 foundry UMC did even worse, down 6.3 percent to T$49.20.

Other high-tech stocks were also on the slide, with Asustek off 4.18 percent to T$114, Quanta down 6.4 percent to T$102 and Via Technologies off 6.9 percent to T$94.50.

Weighing on the South Korean market is the fate of embattled memory chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor, which dropped about 6.8 percent to 750 won after earlier touching a record low of 725 won.

Hynix's creditors want to split the company into three units and sell it off, after the Hynix board stunned observers last week by rejecting a $3 billion deal to sell its memory business to U.S. rival Micron Technology.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics, which is the world's No. 1 memory chipmaker, dropped 4.3 percent to 354,000 won.

Another heavyweight stock, mobile phone leader SK Telecom, was down 1.83 percent to 242,500 won. After a soft start, it picked up a little ground with a first quarter result showing income rose 10 percent year on year to 442 billion won.

KT Corp, the largest fixed-line telco, was up half a percent after a joint statement by the company and the government that it aimed to sell a $4 billion stake through shares and bonds.

News down sharply

In Australia, media giant News Corp dropped sharply, down 49 cents or almost 4 percent to A$11.82 after a report that it will take a writedown of up to $5 billion on its investment in Gemstar-TV Guide International. News will report its third quarter results next week.

All of the big four banks, NAB, CBA, Westpac and ANZ were weaker after their strong performance last week.

ANZ and Westpac have already unveiled record interim first-half results; NAB is expected to report its own interim record net profit on Thursday.

Resources leader BHP Billiton was up about 1 percent to A$10.96 and Rio Tinto put on 36 cents or 1.03 percent to A$35.48.

Gold miner AngloGold rose 4.4 percent to A$10.65.

In Singapore, leading telco SingTel was down 1.9 percent to S$1.55, Singapore Airlines lost 1.42 percent to S$13.90 and bank heavyweight DBS Group fell 2.14 percent to S$13.70.

The benchmark Straits Times Index is down 1 percent to 1723.78 in late morning trade.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index eased 30 points or 0.25 percent to 11,766.95 near midday.

Banking leader HSBC was up about 1 percent to HK$95.75, Cheung Kong Holdings was flat at HK$76, and conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa was also up 1 percent to HK$70.50.

Losers included the mobile phone twins China Mobile and China Unicom, down 0.94 percent and 0.65 percent respectively.