Tokyo resumes in the red
(CNN) -- Asian stocks are mainly lower at midday Thursday as Japan and South Korea resume trading after holidays this week.
Both those markets are down. Seoul is posting the biggest fall, with the Kospi off more than 1.5 percent on concerns about its chipmakers.
In Tokyo, where investors are returning from a three-day trading holiday, the Nikkei 225 is 0.83 percent lower to 11,663.70 at the break.
The broader Topix is down 0.62 percent to 1178.94.
But Taiwan is recovering slightly from Wednesday's tech rout, when the Taiex plunged 5.4 percent. The index is up about 0.4 percent.
Hong Kong is slightly higher.
Australia and New Zealand are both about 0.3 percent lower. Singapore is just in the red.
In Tokyo the dollar is trading at 108.82 yen at midday. There is a mixed picture on the equities market as investors get their first chance to react to the decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve to leave rates on hold.
Carmakers are mainly weaker, with Toyota and Honda both down about 1 percent. Mitsubishi Motors is 4.7 percent lower to 260 yen.
Among tech-related stocks, there are falls of 1.7 percent for Fujitsu and 2.4 percent for NEC Electronics. But Toshiba, Sharp and Kyocera are slightly in the black. Sony is steady at 4270 yen.
Tokyo Electron is down 2.4 percent to 6560 yen. Mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo is steady at 219,000 yen.
Among big banks, Mizuho is unchanged at 522,000 yen and SMFG is up half a percent to 838,000 yen. UFJ is down 0.3 percent and MTFG is about 1 percent lower.
In Seoul, the Kospi is down 1.6 percent down to 853.67.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is 2.8 percent lower to 539,000 won and LG Electronics is off 1.1 percent. Hynix Semiconductor is also in the red, down 1.5 percent to 13,000 won.
Big bank Kookmin is 3.4 percent lower to 43,050 won.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 is 0.33 percent lower to 3396.4.
There are gains for News Corp and Qantas, but big miners are in the red. BHP is off 1 percent to A$11.68 and Rio Tinto is down 0.76 percent to A$32.85.
Westpac Bank, which announced a record first-half result, is down 2.6 percent to A$17.46. Other banks are also in the red. (Full story)
In Singapore, the Straits Times index is virtually flat, down 0.1 percent to 1875.86. Leading bank DBS Group is up 1.4 percent to S$14.70.
SingTel is down 1.2 percent to S$2.41 after posting a record full-year profit. (Full story)
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is up 0.3 percent to 12,003. Hutchison Whampoa and China Mobile are recovering from Wednesday's sharp falls.
HSBC is up 0.8 percent to HK$115.00.
In Taiwan, the Taiex is 0.4 percent ahead to 5880. Chip foundry TSMC is up 0.9 percent to T$55.50 and UMC is 1 percent higher to T$28.80.
On Wall Street Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average finished flat, down just 0.06 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq put on 0.35 percent to 1957.26. (Full story)
