Asian stocks stop plunge, break with Wall St.


Japan's stock market is showing familiar signs of selling off amid political turmoil, but Toshiba and Fujitsu are higher

HONG KONG, China -- Asia stocks arrested their plunge by mid-morning Thursday, though most are still in the red.

They have broken with Wall Street, which took a sharp knock on Wednesday. (Wall St. close)

The Topix index is down 0.29 percent to 1,009.27 just before 11 a.m. local time. The Nikkei index is taking a tech selloff in chip stocks on the chin, down 0.37 percent to 10,437.93.

South Korea's Kospi index, which plunged 4.1 percent on Wednesday, is down 0.18 percent to 774.96.

That is a relatively strong showing given the revelation of a U.S. probe into possible price fixing among memory-chip manufacturers.

Chip stocks lower in Korea

Samsung Electronics is down 2.9 percent to 338,500 won in early going. Hynix Semiconductor is also lower.

The U.S. Department of Justice is looking into possible collusion between the two Korean companies, U.S.-based Micron Technology and Germany's Infineon Technologies. U.S. stocks sold off partly as a result on Wednesday.

There was a blip in the Tokyo market shortly after the open when the U.S. Secret Service evacuated the White House with an unidentified plane in the air over Washington, D.C. (White House evacuation)

Asia's stock-trading and political scenes are showing depressingly familiar traits. Japan's stock market slumped to a four-month low on Wednesday, and its prime minister is mired in political quagmire (Full story).

Authorities arrested bureaucrat Muneo Suzuki on Wednesday on suspicion of graft. Suzuki was one of the figures behind the removal of popular foreign minister, Makiko Tanaka, a scandal that has shredded Junichiro Koizumi's popularity. (Sukuki's arrest)

Toshiba-Fujitsu higher on talks


Samsung and Hynix are both lower in Korea on Thursday, after confirmation of a U.S. probe into possible collusion

But Japan's market has bounced back on Thursday and is trading close to flat. Toshiba Corp. is up 1.3 percent to 477 yen after it said it is talks with rival Fujitsu Ltd. on a possible combination of their chip businesses (Full story).

Fujitsu is up 0.12 percent to 841. Japan's chipmakers had mulled a possible antidumping case against their Korean competitors, as the chip industry suffered through its worst period in history.

Other techs are lower, with Sony Corp. down 1.91 percent to 6,170 yen. They are suffering a spill-over effect from Wall Street on Wednesday.

Nasdaq tumbled 2.99 percent to 1,496.83, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 1.49 percent to 9,561.57 (Full U.S. roundup).

Asian markets are showing much more modest losses. Taiwan is down 1.31 percent to 5,328.73. It is typically the market that tracks Nasdaq the closest.

Australia flat despite News

Australian stocks are almost flat, the S&P/ASX 200 index trading down 0.03 percent at 3,278.9.

That's despite selling pressure from News Corp. The media group gets morst of its sales in the United States and is down 1.1 percent at A$11.25.

Qantas Airways is slightly lower, and bank stocks are trending down. But mining companies such as BHP Billiton are showing gains, up 0.7 percent to A$11.25.

New Zealand's market is down 0.58 percent, the Top 40 standing at 2,145.16.

Singapore stocks are trading higher, with the Straits Times index up 0.16 percent at 1,566.98 in early going.

The market opened lower, but Singapore Airlines, bank stocks and other large caps are attracting some bargain hunting.

On Thursday, the yen is stronger against the dollar, at 124.01 to the buck in Tokyo trade. But officials in Japan still say there is no reason for the gain.

"We are not in the situation for the yen to rise," Zembei Mizoguchi, head of the international bureau of the Finance Ministry, said on Thursday.

Reuters contributed to this report.