Asia steepens stock fall in late trade


A tropical storm hangs over Japan, but its stock markets slumped from European and American selling pressure

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Tokyo stocks broadened their selloff on Thursday afternoon, as almost every Asian market sank.

The Nikkei 225 steepened its drop in late trading, ending the day down 2.48 percent at 10,485.74. That matched Nasdaq's drop on Wednesday.

The Topix index of all Section One stocks in Tokyo lost 1.94 percent to 1,017.17, proving the selling extended beyond techs and telecoms.

South Korea suffered the most, down close to 4 percent. Hong Kong lost more than 2 percent. But only China's B shares and Sri Lanka's small stock market mustered a rise through Asia.

Taiwan dropped more than 1 percent. Australia and New Zealand fell similar amounts. Singapore is trading down as the session comes to a close.

NTT and cell subsidiary sell off

In Tokyo, the main indexes were unable to shake consolidated selling on Wall Street and in Europe.

Cell-phone service NTT DoCoMo crunched 3.05 percent lower to 477,000 yen. Land-line parent NTT dropped 2.77 percent to 492,000 yen.


Cell-phone and telecom plays were lower in Asia, following worldwide trends and doubts about former industry leaders

Qwest Communications pressured telecomes with a 32 percent freefall on Wall Street. The company confirmed prosecutors launched a criminal probe (full story).

U.S.-style stock concerns are now tainting Japanese leasing company Orix. The company is locked in a debate with Deutsche Securities analyst Masamitsu Ohki over its financial disclosures.

Orix stock closed down 4.8 at 8,500 yen and is down more than one-fifth since Ohki's report in June.

Builder gains on contract

Gainers were scant. But builder Taisei put on 1.81 percent to 281 yen. Marubeni Corp. closed ahead 0.77 percent to 130 yen.

They partnered on a 100 billion yen water-pipe contract they landed in the United Arab Emirates, one of Japan's largest deals in the Persian Gulf.

The yen was steady through the Asian trading day. It stands at 117.41 in early European trade.

The Korean won is stronger at 1,17.94 to the greenback at the close of Seoul trade. That prompted the finance ministry to say it would act on the currency if necessary.

Kospi down hard

One official said the government is "worried about widespread sentiment" that the won has room to strengthen further.


President Kim Dae-jung reshuffled his cabinet and Korea now has its first female prime minister

Korea's Kospi index fell hard, down 3.75 percent to 764.88. It ended at its low for the day.

Hynix ended down the 15 percent daily limit, after earlier gains promised another in its string of nine consecutive daily limit rises. But it finished down at 570 won.

The Korean market was also mulling its first female prime minister (full story).

U.S. plays down in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng tumbled 2.12 percent to 10,558.81. Bank HSBC dropped 2.21 percent to HK$88.50.

U.S. oriented plays took a beating after Wall Street's weakness. Small-motor maker Johnson Electric dropped 4.95 percent. Li & Fung ended down 3.83 percent.

Investors will be watching U.S. markets on Thursday, after the S&P 500 fell 3.4 percent Wednesday to its lowest since November 1997.

Taiwan's market has tracked Nasdaq closer than any Asian market this year. Nasdaq fell less than other indexes on Wednesday but still closed down 2.4 percent (full U.S. roundup).

But the Taiex fared better than that. It fell 1.13 percent to 5,202.59, a quiet day for a volatile index.

The Taiwan dollar eased against its U.S. counterpart, as the central bank tried to ward off further strength. It ended at T$33.28 to the greenback.

Australia down on News pressure

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index knocked off 1.05 percent to 3,192.4. News Corp. tumbled 3.5 percent to A$10.13 on likely advertising weakness in its main market, the United States.

Mining stocks continued to drift, BHP Billiton down 0.8 percent to A$10.08.

But gold digger AurionGold closed up 4.2 percent to A$3.76, with Placer Dome likely requiring to improve its takeover offer.

Telstra rose slightly after saying it would increase prices.

New Zealand was down a similar amount as Sydney, lopping off 0.96 percent to 2,071.90. Telecom New Zealand gave up 2.3 percent to NZ$5.11.

Singapore's Straits Times index is down 1.73 percent to 1,603.69 in late trade.

An earnings and profit improvement from Infosys is doing nothing to lift the Indian market, off 1.1 percent in mid-afternoon trade.