Australia, Korea lead markets down

Japanese share traders are enjoying a holiday Friday

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Stock markets in Australia and Korea ended the morning lower Friday as domestic factors outweighed Wall Street's rise.

Japan's share market is closed Friday for the Marine Day national holiday.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 3.2 points to 3391.2, reflecting weakness in media and bank stocks.

In Korea, the Kospi was off 8.49 points at 537.26 after heavyweight Samsung Electronics reported a fall in revenue and said it would reduce capital spending.

After opening lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained ground and was up 35 points at 12,315.57 just before midday.

New Zealand, Taiwan pick up

Markets were up in New Zealand and Taiwan, with the Taiex picking up about 40 points to 4230.87 after a difficult week.

The movements on regional markets came as Wall Street finished on a positive note Thursday. The Down Jones industrial average was up 40.17 points to 10,610.00, while the Nasdaq composite index picked up 30.42 points to 2046.59.

U.S. software giant Microsoft met earnings expectations, but said sales and profits in the September quarter will fall short of forecasts.

In Australia, PBL, the listed vehicle of media tycoon Kerry Packer, fell 7 cents to A$10.21 after Packer decided to sell a 14.9 percent stake in the newspaper publisher John Fairfax Holdings.

Fairfax, which closed Thursday at A$4.17, tumbled 6.5 percent to A$3.90 by midday Friday.

Australian banks NAB, CBA, Westpac and ANZ were all weaker after the Reserve Bank of Australia criticised the level of bank charges.

The largest stock on the Australian market, News Corp, was down 1 percent at A$17.60.

Coles down after profit warning

Australia's biggest retailer Coles Myer lost 4.3 percent to A$6.12 after the company issued its third profit warning in six months late on Thursday.

Resources stocks BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, WMC and Woodside were all stronger.

In Seoul, heavyweights Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom and Hynix Semiconductor led the market down.

Samsung Electronics slipped to 176,000 won after falling to 173,500 won at one point in the morning. Hynix Semiconductor fell for a second day, losing 3 percent to 1470 won.