Tokyo opens lower on profit-taking


NTT DoCoMo stock fell Tuesday after the mobile phone giant said it was recalling some of its new 3G handsets

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks opened lower Tuesday, with some technology issues falling to profit-taking after posting strong gains in the past three sessions.

Consumer electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial slipped 1 percent to 1637 yen, while rival Sony was flat at 5900 yen.

Shares of NTT DoCoMo, Japan's dominant wireless carrier, fell 2.8 percent to 1.72 million yen after the company said late on Monday that 1500 of its third-generation mobile phones would be recalled because of a software glitch.

That helped send the tech-sensitive Nikkei 225 share average down 51 points or 0.5 percent to 11,005.32. On Monday, the Nikkei had ended the day at its highest level since August 28.

The broader capital-weighted TOPIX index was down 5.32 points or 0.49 percent at 1083.45.

Automakers were mixed, with market leader Toyota down 10 yen or a third of a percent to 3250 yen, and second-ranked Nissan up slightly to 621 yen. Honda was unchanged at 4890 yen.

Other markets mixed

Other markets in the region were mixed. Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up again, putting on 15.2 points or half a percent to 3363.8.

New Zealand's NZSE Top 40 surged 1.77 percent or 35.49 points to 2044.84 after a business confidence survey showed the mood is improving.

In Seoul, the Kospi gave back some of Monday's strong gains, with the index down 4.6 points or 0.68 percent to 669.60. It had surged more than 4.5 percent to a 14-month high on Monday.

In Tokyo, shares of major banks were mostly easier after they posted strong gains on Monday. Most of the big banks had announced half-year earnings results on Monday, and these came mostly in line with expectations.

Top banks are now expecting to take full-year loan-loss charges of 6.5 trillion yen ($52 billion), slightly above analysts' estimates of around 6.0 trillion yen and more than triple the 1.9 trillion yen the banks had forecast in May.

"We've seen the Nikkei breaking above the key 11,000 mark (for the first time since late October) yesterday. So it's time for many people to grab profits," Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of products group at Nikko Cordial Securities, told Reuters news agency.

Reuters contributed to this report.