Tokyo, Asia stocks take a tumble


Samsung Electronics turned in a June quarter profit of $1.6 billion, but its stock fell in early trade Friday

TOKYO, Japan -- Asian stock markets are giving ground in early trade Friday, reversing the strong gains they made in the previous day's session

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average is down more than two percent, Taiwan is off about 1.4 percent and Australia is 1.2 percent easier.

The biggest fall is in South Korea, where the Kospi is down a sharp 3.3 percent, with technology stocks taking a beating.

The falls in Asia come after another down day on Wall Street, which was unable to sustain Wednesday's brief rally.

The Dow was off 1.56 percent and Nasdaq lost almost 2.9 percent as U.S. markets tumbled Thursday.

The S&P500 hit a five-year low on dismal earnings and more accounting worries. Microsoft provided some lift with a fourth-quarter profit result that just beat expectations.

Nikkei, Topix down

In Japan, the Nikkei is off 2.19 percent or 229.54 points at 10,268.72, after Thursday's two percent climb.

The broader capital-weighted Topix index is down 1.50 percent to 995.08.

Sony has continued its volatile performance this week, with the consumer electronics giant off more than 3.1 percent to 5610 yen Friday morning.

The yen is slightly firmer against the U.S. dollar, trading at 116.43 in Asian trade Friday.

Japanese automakers and telcos are weaker, but the big banks such as Mizuho, UFJ and MTFG are showing some strength.

In Seoul, the Kospi is making heavy weather, down 3.3 percent to 748.30.

Samsung drags Kospi down

It is being dragged down by market heavyweight Samsung Electronics, which tumbled a hefty 3.8 percent to 343,000 won. That was despite revealing that its profits in the June quarter double to $1.6 billion.

Hyundai Motor is up 1.1 percent to 32,100 won.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 is down 39.9 points or 1.24 percent to 3113.2.

Blue chips are broadly lower, led down by News Corp, the big banks and Telstra. But the resources leaders BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are moving against the trend, with Rio doing best, up 0.76 percent.

Taiwan's Taiex is down 1.4 percent to 5172.01, with technology issues such as chip foundries TSMC and UMC sharply lower.

Singapore is off about 0.7 percent in early trade.