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Asia down, Yanagisawa out in Japan
staff and wires
TOKYO, Japan -- Most Asian markets are giving ground Monday afternoon, with South Korea accounting for the biggest falls, losing more than 3 percent. Tokyo is down too, but started to recover as the market digested the removal of Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa in a cabinet reshuffle. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi added the financial services portfolio to Economy Minister Heizo Takenaka. The dumping of Yanagisawa is viewed as a sign that a bailout of Japan's troubled bank sector is now more likely. Yanagisawa was opposed to using public funds to save the banks, which are saddled with a massive pile of bad loans. (Full story) Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan and Hong Kong are both down more than 2 percent, while Australia and Singapore are off by about 1.6 percent. The dismal close to U.S. trading on Friday, when the Dow Jones industrial average dipped 3.7 percent, is weighing on the region. (Full story) In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average finished the day down 1.54 percent to 9,383.29. The broader Topix index was off by 1.62 percent to 921.05, with big banks again the focus of trading action. Both indexes dipped sharply in the early afternoon, but began recovering when the new cabinet lineup was revealed. Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest bank by assets, lost almost 4 percent early in the day before recovering in the afternoon to close 0.7 percent lower at 285,000 yen Clue to cleanup
Koizumi's new cabinet line-up has been the focus of intense speculation, particularly on the question of Yanagisawa being replaced by someone more aggressive. "People had high hopes (last week) that the government would take bold action to resolve the nation's bad-loan problem," Kenji Kobata, managing director for research at Ace Securities, told Reuters news agency. Japan's No. 3 bank, UFJ Holdings, rebounded from a 3.44 percent fall to close 0.94 percent higher at 323,000 yen, while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group also finished in the black. Big exporters such as Toyota Motor and Sony Corp. were under pressure. Sony, the world's top consumer electronics maker, is 2.44 percent lower to 5,200 yen, and Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, is down 2.47 percent at 3,160 yen. DoCoMo lowerOther big losers in the high-tech sector include Hitachi, off 4.24 percent, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., down 4.67 percent, and mobile phone leader NTT DoCoMo, off 3.7 percent to 208,000 yen. Tokyo Electron and Advantest are both down about 5 percent. Also Monday, Japan released data showing its industrial output rose 1.6 percent in August from a month earlier. That was below a median forecast of a rise of 3.0 percent in a Reuters poll conducted last week. (Full story) In South Korea, the Kospi is down 3.46 percent to 640.75 in afternoon trade. That fall comes as government figures show the nation's headline inflation rose a provisional 0.6 percent in September. The CPI spike stems from a jump in food prices due to typhoons and holidays. (Full story) Samsung Electronics, the market's biggest stock, has tumbled a sharp 4.68 percent to 295,000 won, as fears mount about the strength of U.S. consumer spending. Hyundai Motor, another big exporter, is down 4 percent to 28,150 won. In Australia, News Corp. and AMP are the market's two big losers, taking the S&P/ASX200 to a 12-month low of 2,953 before recovering a little to 2,964.7. Media group News, which accounts for about 9 percent of the index, is off 5 percent to A$8.73, ahead of adjustments to the way companies are measured in the index. There are also reports the News deal to buy Italian pay TV operator Telepiu from Vivendi is in jeopardy over due diligence. Mohl confirmed at AMP
Embattled life insurer and funds manager AMP is on the slide again after confirming interim CEO Andrew Mohl as the permanent replacement for Paul Batchelor, who quit last week to take responsibility for minimum capital problems in AMP's U.K. business. (Full story) AMP is down 6 percent to A$11.57. It touched a record low of A$10.73 last week. In Taiwan, chip foundry TSMC is down 4.5 percent to T$40.10 and smaller rival UMC is about 3 percent lower. Hong Kong's blue chips are broadly lower. HSBC and China Mobile are both off by 2.5 percent. Reuters contributed to this report.
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