Taiwan stocks plunge on Chen comments


Taiwan's market is down almost 5 percent after comments by President Chen about the island's "separate" status

Staff and wires

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japan is the odd one out in Asian stocks Monday, finishing the morning session about half a percent higher while other markets follow Wall Street down.

But the region's biggest loss -- a five percent fall in Taiwan -- has a different catalyst: weekend comments by President Chen Shui-bian that Taiwan is a separate country to China.(Full Story)

The Taiex is down 243.72 points or 4.95 percent to 4677.17, with companies invested in mainland China taking some of the biggest hits. Hon Hai Precision is down 6.5 percent.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that eventually will be reunited with the mainland -- by force, if necessary. China's foreign ministry reaffirmed Monday it will not tolerate any moves towards independence by the island.

Nikkei higher


Sony and other high-tech issues are lower on a day when the Nikkei average is up 0.6 percent

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 average finished the morning session up 57.58 points or 0.59 percent at 9767.24, off an earlier low of 9636.92.

The broader, capital-weighted Topix index is up 0.43 percent at 959.92.

Japan's big banks are broadly higher, as are stocks dependent on domestic demand, such as utilities.

Mobile phone leader NTT DoCoMo is up 2.9 percent to 283,000 yen. Parent NTT is also higher.

But big exporters are again down, with consumer electronics leader Sony off 2.1 percent to 5110 yen. High-tech issues such as Fujitsu, Hitachi and Toshiba are all lower, with Hitachi down almost 3 percent.

Tokyo Electron, Japan's biggest producer of chipmaking equipment, is down 6.58 percent to 5,250 yen after the company cut its full-year targets on Friday.

Vulnerable to change

"People have been shying away from high-tech issues, which are vulnerable to changes in external demand. But they are bullish on those dependent on domestic demand, such as Oki Electric," Kazuyuki Naito, general manager of equities sales and trading at UFJ Tsubasa Securities, told Reuters news agency.

Another batch of weak U.S. economic data is fuelling fears of a possible slowdown in Japan's top export market.

Wall Street ended last week with a down day Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 2.3 percent or 193.49 points to 8313.13. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 2.5 percent or 32.08 points to 1247.92 (Full U.S. roundup).

Other markets in the region are broadly weaker. Only New Zealand has joined Tokyo in the black.

In South Korea, the Kospi is down 2.47 percent to 683.62 points, with tech issues SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics leading the falls.

Steelmaker Posco is down 3.5 percent to 110,000 won.

Australia softer


Australian stocks are weaker following a warning by a business lobby group that the economy is softening

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is off 28 points or 0.9 percent to 3026.2 after newspaper job advertisements eased slightly in July and a business lobby group warned that the economy was softening.

Bluechips including Telstra, News Corp and resources leader BHP Billiton are all slightly lower, as are the big bands. Retailer Coles Myer is a rare gainer.

Insurer and funds manager AMP continues to decline, touching a record low of A$13.54.

In Singapore, the Straits Times index is down about 0.8 percent to 1498.28 in late morning trade.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is off 1.43 percent to 9848 near the end of the morning session. Cheung Kong Holdings is down 2.1 percent to HK$57.75.