Asian stocks lower after open


Samsung says it is not a target of the probe but is cooperating with authorities

By staff and wire reports

HONG KONG, China -- Asian stocks are lower after the open on Friday, with Japan down almost 2 percent.

That comes after another decline on Wall Street. Large chipmakers such as Toshiba are trading lower.

The Topix is down 1.59 percent at 1,006.69 a few minutes after the start of trade. The Nikkei index is down 1.9 percent at 10,411.17.

Asian stocks staged a late rally on Thursday, after spending the entire morning in negative territory. Toshiba gained after stating it is in talks with rival Fujitsu Ltd. on meshing their chip operations.

On Friday morning, Toshiba is down 2.46 percent at 475 yen shortly after the open. Fujitsu is lower by 1.07 percent to 832.

Nasdaq down more than 2 percent

That matches the decline by U.S. tech stocks on Thursday. Nasdaq ended down 2.14 percent at 1,464.75.

The broader market was more muted. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 1.36 percent at 9,431.77 (full U.S. roundup).

Australian stocks are lower, with the S&P/ASX 200 index down 0.44 percent at 3,265.1. New Zealand's market is showing similar losses, down 0.40 percent at 2,140.42.

On Friday morning, South Korea's Kospi is down 1.4 percent to 766.21. Samsung Electronics is down 2.5 percent at 332,500 won.

Samsung clarified on Friday the company is not a "target" of a U.S. probe into anticompetitive practices. It said this week it is cooperating with the subpoena it has received.

Samsung 'not implicated' by probe

Five Asian companies are now involved in the probe (full story). But the Seoul-based company stated it is not "implicated" by the probe, which is based on an "extensive industry-wide basis."

Rival memory-chip maker Hynix Semiconductor is up 3.4 percent at 300 won. It is also involved in the probe.

The yen is stronger at 123.47 to the U.S. dollar. But markets are watching for intervention from Japanese authorities.