Asian stocks lower in morning trade

By Alex Frew McMillan

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian stocks are down across the board on Thursday morning, after an overnight fall on Wall Street.

The Nikkei is down 1.71 percent at 10,568.34 in morning going. The broader Topix index is off 1.57 percent at 1,021.01.

South Korea is down more than 2 percent, with Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore all lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average was off sharply overnight on Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell harder, closing at its lowest since November 1997.

The Dow closed down 3.1 percent, outdone by the S&P 500's 3.4 percent drop. Nasdaq fell less but still closed down 2.4 percent (full U.S. roundup).

Yen traders watch intervention

Telecom Qwest Communications is the latest company to come under the market's gavel in the United States. Prosecutors launched a criminal probe into the company.

In Tokyo, the yen is steady at 117.54 to the dollar. The market is watching for intervention from Japan to weaken the yen, to support exports.

Sony Corp. is off 1.8 percent at 5,990 yen by mid-morning, hit both by questions about exports and about tech stocks.

Leasing and financing company Orix is down 5.6 percent at 8,430 yen. The company is locked in a public debate with an analyst over its financial disclosures.

Australian stocks are off 0.96 percent, leaving the S&P/ASX 200 index at 3,195.1. Canadian company Placer Dome suffered a blow in its bid for Australia's AurionGold.

Standard & Poor's said Wednesday it is removing Placer Dome from S&P 500 on Wednesday, along with six other non American companies, to make it a better indicator of U.S. stocks.

Korea, Taiwan both down

In South Korea, the Kospi is down 2.02 percent to 778.66. The won stands at 1,175.5 to the U.S. dollar.

There has been little market reaction to President Kim Dae-jung's decision to shuffle his cabinet (full story).

Samsung Electronics is moving south, down 3.0 percent to 336,500 won.

Hynix Semiconductor is bucking the regional downdrift and up the 15 percent daily limit for the 10th day in a row, to 760 won.

Taiwan's Taiex is off 1.05 percent to 5,206.53. TSMC is following through on Wednesday's losses, down 2.9 percent to T$68.00.

Chip-foundry rival UMC is mimicking Nasdaq's dip, off 2.4 percent to T$40.80. Both companies, the largest listings in Taiwan, this week reported large jumps in sales for June (full story).

Thursday's falls in Asia follow broad declines on Wednesday (full market close). New Zealand was one of the few gainers.

New Zealand's Top 40 is 0.71 percent lower on Thursday at 2,077.06.