Asian Markets Update: Tokyo Markets Quietly Close Lower

TOKYO -- Japanese shares closed lower as futures traders shuffled positions ahead of the settlement of September futures and options contracts on Friday. However, with most cash stock buyers out of the market until the volatility in futures trading subsides, the market was relatively quiet.

The Nikkei 225 index shed 235.94, or 1.4%, to close at 16,452.27, while the Topix index, which includes all shares listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, lost 11.36 to finish at 1491.04. The Jasdaq small-cap index fell 1.37, or 1.7%, to end the day at 81.01, while the Nikkei over-the-counter market lost 16.54, or 1.0%, to close at 1704.91.

Traders reckon trading in the futures market will dominate until Thursday, as players adjust positions before derivatives contracts expire, which is dubbed the settlement of special quotations. September Nikkei 225 futures fell 340.00 to 16,400, while September Topix futures fell 16.00 to 1485.

With most institutional and retail investors waiting for the futures' market volatility to settle, the only thing the cash market saw was some unwinding in cross-shareholdings in selected bank shares. The Industrial Bank of Japan lost 6 yen to 729 ($6.86), while the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi (MBK) shed 1 to 1343.

Most large-cap tech shares were flat to lower, including Toshiba, down 40, or 3.9%, to 999. Despite announcing a two-for-one stock split, shares of Yahoo! Japan shed 900,000, or 3.0%, to 29.3 million. Some traders thought supply may exceed demand after the split, which is scheduled for Sept. 29.

On the upside, NTT DoCoMo, which recently announced a deal with the U.S.' Palm(PALM) to introduce new products in Japan, rose 30,000, or 1.0%, to 2.92 million.

In lethargic trading, the greenback gained against the yen to recently buy 106.23.

After rising nearly 600 points over the last two sessions, Hong Kong's Hang Seng took a break and fell 130.95 to close at 17,595.22. Property shares, which had been on the rise over the past week, led the decline, with Sun Hung Kai Properties shedding HK$1.00, or 1.3%, to 78.75 ($10.10), while Cheung Kong fell 1.00, or 1.0%, to 104.50.

Investors instead switched into telecom shares like China Mobile (CHL), which rose 0.75, or 1.2%, to 62.50, while Smartone Telecommunications jumped 0.85, or 5.3%, to 16.85.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea's Kospi index fell 2.06 to close at 679.24, while Taiwan's TWSE index shed 17.40 to end trade at 7785.62.

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