Tokyo, South Korean stocks head lower


Japanese automakers Honda, Nissan and Toyota are lower in Monday trade

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Asian stocks are mixed heading into Monday afternoon, with Tokyo's Nikkei down more than two percent, and Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan also weaker.

But Singapore, Australia and New Zealand are higher.

In Japan, mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo and other large-cap stocks are heading the retreat on Tokyo's market.

The Nikkei 225 average is off 2.21 percent or 216.53 points to 9571.60 at the midday point. The broader capital-weighted Topix is off 1.68 percent to 944.97.

Trading is still thin in Japan as workers start returning from northern summer holidays.

"Investors are still wary of diving back into this market," Koji Muneoka at HSBC Securities told Reuters news agency.

Wall Street closed mixed on Friday, leaving little direction for Asian markets.

NTT DoCoMo has slipped 3.41 percent to 255,000 yen, while Japan Telecom is down 1.3 percent to 380,000 yen and rival telco KDDI is off 1.5 percent to 328,000. Media reports Monday say DoCoMo will offer discounted pricing for heavy users of its i-mode service. (Full Story)

Nippon Meat up


Australia's market is among the gainers in Asia-Pacific trade Monday

Nippon Meat Packers is up 8.4 percent to 938 yen after media reports Monday that its founder and chairman Yoshinori Ohkoso will resign Tuesday to take responsibility for a meat mislabeling scandal that has sent the company's stock down 36 percent so far this year.(Full Story)

Toyota Motor Corp and other major exporters are under pressure amid growing concerns about the economic recovery in the United States, where Japan's largest carmaker gets most of its operating profits.

Toyota is 2.75 percent lower to 2825 yen, second-ranked Honda is off 1.03 percent to 4810 yen and No. 3 maker Nissan is down 1.73 percent to 853 yen.

Investors worried about U.S.

"U.S. stocks have settled down, but data on the economy is getting worse. Investors are increasingly worried the U.S. economy will fall off a cliff and pull Japan over with it," Masatoshi Sato of Mizuho Investors Securities told Reuters.

Chip and computer-maker NEC is up 0.15 percent to 653 yen on a report that it plans in 2004 to mass-produce carbon nanotubes -- microscopic structures heralded for their strength and conductivity.

Fujitsu is off 2.76 percent and Hitachi is down 2.84 percent, while consumer electronics leader Sony is 0.58 percent weaker at 5130 yen. Another big exporter, Canon, is down about 2 percent.

In South Korea, the Kospi is off 0.18 percent to 717.22.

Embattled memory chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor is up by the market limit of 15 percent to 575 won as it continues its negotiations with creditors.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is up 1.38 percent to 330,000 won, but another investor favorite, SK Telecom is down 0.86 percent to 231,500 won.

Other losers include steelmaker Posco and Kookmin Bank, both down more than 2 percent.

News lifts Australia

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 is 0.7 percent higher to 3155.4 in early afternoon trading.

Media giant News Corp is continuing to make ground, putting on 3 percent to A$10.59.


A National Day address by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong is helping push the Singapore market higher

In the resources sector, BHP Billiton is up 1.34 percent, while MIM Holdings is more than 2.6 percent higher after reporting its full-year results.(Full Story)

Funds manager and insurance giant AMP is also recovering from recent price falls and is up 2.7 percent to A$14.35.

Changes in Hong Kong are muted. Banking leader HSBC is off 0.28 percent and China Mobile is down 0.44 percent. Most other bluechips are flat or slightly lower. Sinopec, which reported half-year results Sunday, is up 1.65 percent to HK$1.23. (Full Story)

The Hang Seng index is down a third of a percent to 10,226 near midday.

Taiwan's Taiex is off 0.74 percent to 4882.45. The market's biggest stock, chip foundry TSMC, is flat at T$53.50.

In Singapore the market is bullish after Sunday's National Day address by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. Big banks DBS, OCBC and UOB are all higher, as is SingTel, up 2.7 percent to S$1.51.

Star Cruises is up 6.5 percent to S$0.41 after posting a big jump in half-year profit last week and predicting a boost to the bottom line next year from new ships.

Reuters contributed to this report.