Japan, Korea markets take a tumble


Despite a victory over Italy in the soccer World Cup, South Korea's stock market fell sharply Wednesday

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian markets tumbled to a lower close Wednesday, led down by heavy falls in Japan and South Korea.

Tech-driven losses saw Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average dive 3.36 percent to 10,476.18 -- its lowest point since February 26, when it touched 10,202. The tech-heavy Nikkei hit an 18-year low of 9420.85 on February 6.

The broader capital-weighted Topix did slightly better, but still fell 2.8 percent to 1012.22 -- also a four-month low.

In Seoul, despite the jubilation flowing from South Korea's historic defeat of Italy in the World Cup soccer match Tuesday night, the stock market crashed. The Kospi opened higher Wednesday morning, but then fell throughout the day to close 4.08 percent lower at 776.37.

Its 33-point fall was the worst one-day decline since December 10 last year, when the market gave up 35.73 points.

Taiwan, Hong Kong also lower

The decline was Asia-wide. In Taiwan, the tech rout saw the Taiex fall 2.47 percent to 5399.50, and in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gave up 1.65 percent to 10,673.


Oracle's Ellison told CNN his company doesn't know when tech spending will rebound but the U.S. recovery will be slow

Australia's S&P/ASX200 was off about 1 percent to 3279.9 and Singapore's Straits Times index was down 1.85 percent to 1570.96 heading towards the close.

Even New Zealand's Top 40, which touched a 22-month high Tuesday, eased -- if only slightly. It was down 0.17 percent to 2157.69.

Techs started Tokyo's selling, but big banks were very weak too. Mizuho Holdings lost more than 6 percent, SMBC fell 3.4 percent and UFJ was off 3.6 percent.

Big chipmaker Toshiba tumbled 6 percent ahead of the details of its alliance with Fujitsu, which closed 1.9 percent lower. Consumer electronics leader Sony dipped 3 percent and telco giant NTT fell 5.5 percent.

Carmakers were weaker, with Honda off 3 percent and Nissan down 4.5 percent.

World Cup effect

In Seoul, the "World Cup effect" initially looked promising. The Kospi rose more than 0.2 percent, but the gains proved ephemeral.

Chipmaker and market heavyweight Samsung Electronics turned around sharply to lead the losses. It fell 4 percent to 348,500 won. Its troubled rival Hynix Semiconductor touched another record low, closing at 290 won.

Mobile phone leader SK Telecom was off 3 percent to 262,000 won and fixed-line rival KT Corp lost 2.7 percent to 50,600 won.

Kookmin Bank was up 1.5 percent at noon, after Goldman Sachs sold 13.2 million of its shares for $633.6 million on the U.S. market. But by the end of trading, even Kookmin was down, just into the red at 60,000 won.

Daewoo Motor Sales was another early gainer on reports Japan's Suzuki Motor would take an equity stake in Daewoo Motor's successor company, but it fell sharply to finish 7 percent lower at 6500 won.

Taiwan's tech-heavy market suffered in sympathy. Computer makers Quanta and Asustek lost 6.5 percent and 6.7 percent respectively.

Chip foundry UMC gave up 3 percent, while market leader and foundry rival TSMC slipped modestly, down just 0.2 percent to T$68.50.

U.S. market pressure

Asian markets had been expected to suffer the poor showing of techs on the U.S. markets on Tuesday. But the Dow gained, as it did on Monday (full U.S. roundup).

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison told CNN on Wednesday he wasn't sure when tech spending would return.

"We don't know," Ellison told Newsbiz Today, when asked if better times are ahead for his company. "The fact is that the buying climate remains very tough. There aren't so many big deals around anymore."

He said he is interested in expansion in China (full story).

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.65 percent to 10,673.

China Mobile is down 3.4 percent to HK$22.75. Its smaller rival in the mobile-phone market, China Unicom, dropped 3.65 percent to HK$6.60. It has suffered amid market doubts on its recouping the high cost of building a CDMA network.

Bank stock HSBC Holdings, the largest listing in Hong Kong, is down 1.1 percent at HK$89.50.

Australian stocks also slipped, with big banks and resources lower. Media group News Corp. fell 4 percent to A$11.38. BHP Billiton was down 3.6 percent and Rio Tinto lost 1.2 percent.

Telecom stock Telstra lost 3 cents to A$4.58.