Asian stocks drift as run stalls


Asian markets split, with Japan and Taiwan heading south on chip losses as Hong Kong and Australia logged gains

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Asian stocks drifted on Wednesday, with Japan, Taiwan and New Zealand all losing a little over 1 percent.

The tech-laced Nikkei slipped 1.26 percent, closing back beneath 10,000 at 9,877.94. The broader Topix index was off 1.02 percent at 965.00.

South Korea lost a little ground. But there were some gainers in the region, and moves were not dramatic. Hong Kong rose just over 1 percent, the strongest rise. Australia nudged slightly ahead.

Singapore is trading down around one-third of a percent heading into the close.

Two day run ends in Tokyo

In Japan, stocks gave up their two-day head of strength. Exporters capped their run based on the slightly weaker yen.

The Japanese yen is trading steady at 119.85 to the U.S. dollar in early trade out of Zurich.


Chip earnings out of Japan are generally strong but the companies are cautious about the outlook for the rest of the year

Nissan Motor Co. stalled 2.9 percent to end at 838 yen, after gaining 12 percent the past two days. Honda Motor finished down 2.54 percent at 4,980 yen.

Chip- and computer maker Fujitsu fell 2.38 percent to 697 yen, after posting results last week. Japan's big chipmakers this week posted quarterly earnings, some for the first time, that were relatively strong.

But they cast a cautious tone about the rest of the year.

Hitachi recouped morning losses but ended down 1.6 percent to 670 yen. It posted a net loss of $70 million for the June quarter on Tuesday(Full Story).

Electronics maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. fell 2.24 percent to 1,487 yen ahead of its results, which showed it came back into the black for the June quarter.

UMC down after earnings

Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.29 percent to 4,940.38. Chip foundry and No. 2 stock UMC lost 3.0 percent to T$32.20.

It posted disappointing earnings after the close on Tuesday (full story).

Larger rival TSMC finished down 2.9 percent to T$50.50, hit by UMC's results and a warning from its customer Nvidia in the United States.

Financial stocks were also off in Taipei.

Asian stocks got little direction from U.S. markets overnight.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing 0.37 percent lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq up 0.67 percent (Full U.S. roundup).

Exporters, techs off in Seoul

In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 0.84 percent to 717.99. Exporters suffered a little after some disappointing consumer sentiment figures out of the United States.

Samsung Electronics slipped 0.2 percent to 332,500 won. Cell-phone service SK Telecom dropped 2.5 percent to 2331,000 won.

Samsung's memory chip rival plunged 13 percent to 510 won. There were scattered gains in Seoul, especially among banking stocks.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 remained steady for most of the day. It closed up 0.08 percent at 3,086.2.

Cochlear stars in Australia

News Corp. put a drag on the market with a 3.3 percent fall to A$9.18. But other big caps were firm, with Telstra off 0.2 percent at A$4.81 and BHP Billiton up 0.5 percent to A$9.53.


Cochlear was the star of Australian trading again, recouping heavy losses after a meningitis scare at a competitor

Cochlear put in a second impressive day of gains, ramping up 12.2 percent to $37.48. The Australian bionic-ear maker says a meningitis scare for rival Advanced Bionics does not affect it.

Australia's biggest retailer, Coles Myer, dropped 3.3 percent to A$6.20.

New Zealand's Top 40 lost 1.03 percent to 1,985.96, with Telecom N.Z. down 2.9 percent to NZ$4.71.

It had gained six percent over the previous two days.

Tsingtao shoots up in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ran counter to most regional markets, logging a 1.1 percent rise to 10,267.36.

HSBC underpinned the market with a 0.85 percent rise to HK$88.50.

Beer company Tsingtao Breweries shot up 18.75 percent to close at HK$3.80 after it said it is in talks with Anheuser-Busch on expanding in China (full story).

The company also said its first-half profits will be up more than 50 percent.

Cell-phone play China Mobile had a strong day, up 2.86 percent to HK$21.70 as it continues to recoup heavy tech selling last week.

Singapore's Straits Times is down 0.34 percent at 1,511.60 near the close.