Asian Markets Update: Japan Stocks Slip Despite Tech Buying

TOKYO -- Local fund managers scooped up selected technology shares early in the day, but the market slumped anyway.

The Nikkei 225 index shed 12.99, to 15,626.96, marking a fresh 18-month low. The Topix index, which includes all shares listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, fell 8.68 to 1439.43, the Jasdaq small-cap index shed 0.46 to 74.17, while the Nikkei over-the-counter index lost 5.50 to 1571.96.

The day started off on a good note, as fund managers bought key electronic shares ahead of the close of the fiscal first-half on Sept. 30. Some of the favorites noted today were Canon, up 20 yen, or 4.4%, to 4730 and NEC (NIPNY), up 10 to 2375.

However, a weak telecom sector irked traders. Japan Telecom lost 270,000, or 8.0%, to 3.11 million, DDI shed 53,000, or 7.5%, to 650,000, while NTT DoCoMo slid 120,000, or 3.8%, to 3.01 million. In addition, many traders indicated that hedge funds were still shorting the market, adding to the slide today.

Game lovers were also depressed after they heard that Sony (SNE) cut by half its planned shipments of its flagship PlayStation 2 game console for North America. Sony Computer Entertainment America announced overnight that it would only be able to ship 500,000 PS2 units at the Oct. 26 launch, although the firm indicated it would still meet its global sales target of 10 million units by the end of March 2001. Shares closed down 730, or 6.4%, to 10,640.

With every currency dealer patiently waiting to see if Denmark accepts the euro or not, not much happened in the foreign exchange market. The dollar edged slightly lower against the yen to recently fetch 107.51.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index nudged 28.38 lower to 15,415.75, as traders seemed reluctant to make large trades before several large property and telecom firms announced their fiscal first-half results after the market close. Property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties (SUHJY) rose HK$0.25 to 69.75 ($8.94), while Pacific Century Cyberworks (PCW) closed the day flat at 9.00. Local reports indicated that Pacific Century would post a fiscal first-half loss of around $150 million to $250 million on revenue of about $80 million.

The current market darling among foreign mutual funds is motor manufacturer Johnson Electric, which jumped 1.05, or 6.5%, to 17.15.

Taiwan's TWSE index lost 152.17, or 2.3%, to 6564.87 as index heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) shed NT$4.50, or 4.1%, to 106.50 ($3.41). Meanwhile, Korea's Kospi index rose 6.54, or 1.1%, to 605.85.

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