Tech stocks take Tokyo down


Technology stocks, including consumer electronics leader Sony, slipped by midday Monday in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks were lower by midday Monday, dragged down by loss warnings and continuing fears of retaliation against the U.S.-led military attacks in Afghanistan.

Technology stocks, banks and automakers all figured among the losers. Gamemaker Nintendo and telco KDDI were rare gainers.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average was down 184.36 points or 1.73 percent at 10,447.99, giving up part of the 6.7 percent gain posted on Thursday and Friday.

The broader capital-weighted TOPIX index fell 20.29 points or 1.87 percent to 1,067.19.

Australia, Taiwan and Korea were also weaker by midday Monday, but New Zealand was slightly higher.

WMC strengthens on takeover talk

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 was off 34.1 points or just over 1 percent to 3191.0, with broad losses by banks and resources stocks offset by a gain from potential takeover target WMC and leading telco Telstra.

In Seoul the Kospi was 2.66 points lower at 513.74. In Taipei, the Taiex was down by 71.08 points or 1.87 percent to 3730.42, with tech stocks prominent among the losers.

In Tokyo, tech stocks were weaker, led down by Advantest Corp and Matsushita Electric Industrial, which on Friday joined a chorus of downward earnings revisions.

Advantest Corp, Japan's top maker of semiconductor testing devices, was down 8.83 percent to 6090 yen, down from Friday's close of 6,680 yen.

Tokyo Electron, a major manufacturer of chip-manufacturing equipment, lost 5.05 percent to 4,890 yen.

Matsushita, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, lost 3 percent to 1,529 yen. Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Hitachi and NEC were also part of the technology slide.

JAL slips on loss warning

"Buyers are on the sidelines with the U.S. third quarter earnings announcements picking up speed, and more loss warnings are expected from Japanese companies," Yutaka Miura, deputy manager of the equity information section at Shinko Securities, told Reuters news agency.

Another loser was Japan Airlines, down 1.8 percent at 273 yen.

Japan's top airline came under pressure after the company on Friday slashed its group net forecast for the year to next March to a loss of 40 billion yen from a profit of 25 billion yen as it struggles with the aftermath of the September attacks on New York and Washington.

Shares in JAL have lost a total 22 percent since the attacks.

Reuters contributed to this report.