Stocks down sharply at Asian open


Japan is down almost 2 percent, with Korea selling off more and most of Asia reacting to Wall Street's decline

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian stocks are sharply lower on Friday morning, with Japan's Nikkei off almost 2 percent.

The broader market is faring little better, the Topix down 1.48 percent at 907.02. The Nikkei is down 1.93 percent at 9,233.80 by mid-morning.

Japanese stocks have risen every day so far this week. But they are taking a knock Friday from tech stocks such as Sony, down 3.01 percent to 5,150 yen, and Toshiba, off 2.74 percent to 391 yen.

Other Asian markets are also posting declines, driven by a Wall Street drop on Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 2.35 percent, with Nasdaq falling 2.72 percent. (Full roundup)

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned U.S. interest rates would rise if the government returns to an era of deficit spending. (Full story)

U.S. jobless figures poor

There was bad news on the employment front, with new jobless claims up 19,000 for the week through September 7 when Wall Street had been expecting a fall.


Sony and other big techs are down in Tokyo, and fund favorites Samsung and SK Telecom are off in Seoul

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index is down 0.57 percent at 3,124.3, with big caps suffering after Greenspan's less-than-upbeat words.

News Corp. is down 2.9 percent to A$9.52, with Telstra down 1 percent to A$4.95.

New Zealand's Top 40 is down 0.53 percent at 2,035.39.

South Korea's Kospi is down 2.55 percent at 720.36 in mid-morning, after two days of strong gains.

Fixed-line telecom KT Corp. is leading the falls, down 3.1 percent to 53,100 won.

But other fund favorites are suffering the same fate. Samsung Electronics is down 2.48 percent to 334,500 won. SK Telecom is off 2.04 percent to 240,000 won.

Taiwan is down 0.88 percent with the Taiex at 4,606.47. TSMC is down 2.2 percent at T$48.80, mapping declines in U.S. chip stocks.