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Asian stocks head lower
By Alex Frew McMillan
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian stocks are lower going into afternoon trade on Wednesday, with gains only in some of the region's minor markets. Tokyo's Nikkei average is down 1.91 percent to 9,028.99 at the noon break, with red ink just about across the board. The Topix is down a similar 1.62 percent to 876.29 as the afternoon gets underway, with banks selling off hard again. The biggest losses are in South Korea, where the Kospi is down almost 2.5 percent. Hong Kong's losses are approaching 1.5 percent, with Australian stocks down a similar amount. Singapore, Taiwan and New Zealand are all off around 0.75 percent. There are gains in Malaysia and in China's A and B share markets. But part from those, the region is showing negative. Wall Street injected selling pressure in Asia with a fall on Tuesday, hurt by Hewlett Packard cutting its forecasts. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.35 percent to 8,742.93, while Nasdaq tumbled 2.41 percent. (U.S. roundup) Techs take a little off in TokyoIn Tokyo, tech gainers that have driven the market to a two-month high are easing again. NEC Corp. is off 3.23 percent to 509 yen, while Mitsubishi Electric is down 4.18 percent to 321 yen.
Circuits maker Kyocera is down 2.92 percent to 7,980 yen, having gained 25 percent in the last three weeks. Major exporters are also giving ground, with Sony Corp. down 2.55 percent to 5,360 yen and Honda Motor off 1.7 percent at 4,630 yen. Bank stocks are down for a second day, with UFJ Holdings speeding up its selling and down 6.03 percent to 109,000 yen. Mizuho Holdings is 5.47 percent lower at 121,000 yen, while No. 5 Resona Holdings is down 5.8 percent at 65 yen. The biggest banks are pushing for greater input into Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka's efforts to reform the industry. The yen is a little weaker again at 124.47 to the U.S. dollar in afternoon trade in Tokyo. Australia easing on AMP fallIn Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index is down 1.5 percent at 3,026.6 despite the country reporting strong growth of 0.9 percent in its economy for the third quarter. (Full story)
Fund manager and insurer AMP is down 5.26 percent to A$12.60 after posting earnings and saying it will slash 1,900 jobs in the United Kingdom, beyond the 2,700 jobs it had already said it would cut worldwide. (Full story) News Corp. is off 3.55 percent to A$12.49, a larger fall than it experienced overnight on Wall Street. Mining stocks are also down, with MIM Holdings off 1.32 percent to A$1.50. WMC Ltd. is making its debut Wednesday as a split company, divided into Alumina Ltd. and WMC Resources Ltd. New Zealand's Top 40 ended down 0.72 percent to 1,926.06, having hit its lowest level since October 2001 in the day, as Telecom New Zealand fell 1.30 percent to NZ$4.57. Hong Kong hurt by exportersHong Kong's Hang Seng index is down 1.38 percent to 10,086.27, with telecom plays and U.S.-oriented companies lower. Garment shipper Li & Fung is down 5.00 percent to HK$8.55, while small-motor maker Johnson Electric is off 5.85 percent to HK$8.85. Telecom PCCW is down 5.23 percent to HK$1.45 after MobileOne made a flat debut in trading in Singapore. PCCW is reducing its 15 percent stake through the IPO. Those are the biggest losses but there is a lot of weakness, with bank stock HSBC down 1.36 percent to HK$90.75. Kospi the largest declinerIn South Korea, the Kospi is down 2.49 percent to 718.24, the most dramatic loss in the region. Samsung Electronics, the largest listing in Seoul, is down 3.18 percent to 380,500 won after hitting a seven-month high on Tuesday. (Full story) Hyundai Motor is down 4.72 percent to 34,300 won after the Korean city of Yosu lost out on hosting the 2010 World Exposition to Shanghai in China. Hyundai expected to win business if Korea had won the event. Department-store chain Shinsegae is down 3.00 percent to 178,000 won, while steelmaker Posco is down 3.17 percent to 133,000 won. Macronix plummets on sales dataTaiwan's Taiex is down 0.77 percent at 4,757.16 after declines in U.S. techs. Flash-memory chipmaker Macronix is off the daily 7 percent limit at T$13.60 after reporting sales were down 23 percent for November, over October. There are a few domestically oriented gainers, Taiwan Cement up 2.31 percent to T$11.05 in heavy volume. China Motor, the country's largest carmaker, is up 4.49 percent at T$186.00. Chip foundry TSMC, the largest listing in Taipei, is down 1.87 percent at T$52.50 after declines in its customers' shares in the United States. Rival UMC is down 2.21 percent to T$26.60. Singapore's Straits Times index is down 0.87 percent at 1,369.80, with initial public offering MobileOne topping the volume. M1, the city's second-largest cell-phone operator, is down 3.79 percent at S$1.27, having debuted at S$1.32. It raised $449 million in the listing. (Full story) Retail investors have been able to turn a quick buck because they bought in at a discounted price of S$1.25. Chartered Semiconductor is down 6.42 percent at S$1.02, hurt by a bearish outlook from customer Nokia. (Full story)
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