Toshiba, Sony drag Tokyo lower
(CNN) -- Japanese stocks closed mixed Wednesday as investors reacted to the latest industrial production figures and a swag of earnings reports. Techs were big losers, but banks made solid gains.
The Nikkei lost about a third of a percent while the Topix closed up slightly.
Toshiba was off sharply, down 7.6 percent after posting earnings Tuesday. Sony was also well in the red, off 4.3 percent.
The Japanese government said Wednesday that industrial production rose 0.1 percent in March from a month earlier, lower than expected.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average finished down 0.34 percent to 12,004.29. The broader Topix was up 0.16 percent to 1206.92.
That follows the Nikkei's 1 percent fall Tuesday, a day after the average closed at a 33-month high.
Stocks on Wall Street closed mixed Tuesday, pulling back from early highs after renewed violence in the Middle East.
Elsewhere in the region, South Korea dropped about 1.5 percent, Taiwan fell 1 percent and Australia was virtually unchanged.
New Zealand showed the biggest gain, up 0.3 percent.
In Tokyo, the dollar is trading at 109.210 yen late in the day.
Among Japanese carmakers, Toyota ended 1 percent lower at 4050 yen. Nissan finished down 0.16 percent to 1249 yen after announcing Monday a 12 percent jump in annual operating profit that made it the world's most profitable maker. (Full story)
Honda, which released results Tuesday, fell 0.87 percent to 4570 yen. (Full story)
Matsushita Electric Industrial fell 1.5 percent to 1621 yen before posting earnings after the close. (Full story)
Toshiba, Japan's biggest chip maker, plunged 7.6 percent to 522 yen after Tuesday reporting net profit for the year to March rose 55 percent to 28.8 billion yen ($272 million). (Full story
Consumer electronics leader Sony ended down 4.3 percent to 4410 yen and Canon was 0.7 percent higher to 5780 yen after reporting earnings. (Full story)
Fujitsu jumped 2.17 percent to 755 yen after it returned to the black for the year ended March. ( Full story)
Advantest Corp, Japan's top maker of microchip testing equipment, ended down 1.9 percent to 8700 yen. On Monday it said it expected to double its profit in the current business year.
In the banking sector, there were big gains for Mizuho, up 5.8 percent to 528,000 yen, and UFJ, up 5 percent to 695,000 yen. MTFG and SMFG were also stronger.
Big mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo slipped 1.7 percent to 223,000 yen and rival KDDI ended 0.46 percent lower to 651,000 yen. It posted earnings after the close. (Full story)
South Korea stocks
In Seoul, the Kospi closed 1.5 percent lower to 901.83. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell another 2.6 percent to 602,000 won.
Big exporter Hyundai Motor was down 2.1 percent to 46,400 won and Shinhan financial group lost 4.5 percent to 21,200 won.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 ended down 0.05 percent to 3444.8.
BHP Billiton was again in the red, down 0.5 percent to A$11.92. News Corp. also slipped, losing 1.2 percent to A$12.84.
PBL, flagship of the billionaire Packer family, rose 3 percent to A$12.35 on the back of its takeover bid for Perth casino Burswood. (Full story)
In Taiwan, the Taiex was off 1.08 percent to 6574.75. Chip foundry TSMC slipped 2.4 percent to T$62.00 and rival UMC fell 2.7 percent to T$32.50.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index is down 0.2 percent to 1849.93. Leading bank DBS is up 0.7 percent and SingTel is steady at S$2.39.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is up about 0.3 percent to 12,193.37. China Mobile and HSBC are both about half a percent higher.
On Wall Street Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.32 percent to 10,478.16, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.21 percent to 2032.53. (Full story
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