Asia easier on weak U.S. growth figures


Toshiba is among Japanese tech stocks trading lower Thursday after an easing in U.S. consumer spending

TOKYO, Japan -- Asian markets are easier heading into Thursday afternoon after a downbeat report on U.S. economic growth dragged high-tech exporters lower.

Japanese consumer electronics companies Sony, Sharp, Toshiba and Hitachi are weaker, reflecting the U.S. role as Japan's biggest market.

In Tokyo, the tech-sensitive Nikkei 225 average ended the morning session down 81.49 points or 0.82 percent to 9796.45.

The broader capital-weighted Topix is down 0.47 percent to 960.45.

Markets in South Korea, Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong are also lower, but falls are muted. Singapore is just into the black.

New Zealand is also higher, but there are few dramatic gains to be seen.

The U.S. Commerce Department's report released Wednesday showed consumer spending is slowing and GDP data for the second quarter was a lower than expected 1.1 percent year on year(Full Story).

Below consensus forecast


Australia is among regional markets falling into the red Thursday

That was well below the consensus forecast of 2.3 percent.

"The GDP figures were a downer, and persistent foreign selling is also making people wary of taking long positions," Ken Masuda, senior dealer at Shinko Securities, told Reuters news agency.

Losses in Japan were led by a handful of high-tech exporters. Sharp is off 4.84 percent to 1395 yen and Toshiba, Japan's second largest chipmaker, is down 5.33 percent to 426 yen.

Hitachi and Fujitsu are both more than 2 percent lower, while Tokyo Electron is down 3.75 percent at 5900 yen.

Sony is just into the red, off 10 yen or 0.18 percent, at 5400 yen. Telcos and big banks are among other losers, with NTT down 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp off 2.37 percent to 619 yen.

Bridgestone Corp, Japan's largest tire maker, is 4.14 percent lower at 1620 yen.

The falls came after a mixed day on Wall Street, with the Dow closing 0.65 percent higher and the Nasdaq down 1.2 percent(Full U.S. roundup).

Samsung, SK Telecom lower

In Seoul, the Kospi is 0.89 percent lower at 711.62.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is 2.1 percent lower at 325,500 won and SK Telecom is down 1.3 percent to 228,000 won.

But fixed-line rival KT Corp is up more than half a percent after a good earnings result.(Full Story). Kookmin Bank is also among the gainers.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is down 10.6 points or 0.34 percent in early afternoon trade.

Banks are higher, but big-cap stocks Telstra, News Corp, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are all lower, helping to drag the market into the red.

News, the media group which gets most of its revenue in the U.S., is down 0.65 percent to A$9.12.

Rio Tinto is down 1 percent to A$32.75 after confirming on Wednesday it has set prices with six Japanese steel producers on the long-term supply of iron ore.

Hong Kong flat

In Hong Kong, banking leader HSBC is slightly higher at HK$88.75.

But most other bluechips are either flat or in the red, pushing the Hang Seng index just into negative territory at 10,233.78. That is a third of a percent below Wednesday's close.

Taiwan's Taiex index is virtually unchanged at 4938.80.

Hon Hai Precision is down 4 percent to T$132.50 after local media reported it would spend almost $600 million on a new flat panel display plant in the northern part of Taiwan.(Full Story)

Chip foundry and market leader TSMC is unchanged at T$50.50, while smaller rival UMC is slightly into the black at T$32.50.

Singapore's Straits Times index is flat at 1508.48 in late morning trade.