Banks push Tokyo to lower close
(CNN) -- Japanese stocks closed mainly lower Monday as some technology stocks followed their U.S. counterparts down. Big banks were sharply in the red.
Most other Asian markets also trended down, though moves in either direction were muted. Singapore is up about a third of a percent.
Australia and New Zealand both closed virtually unchanged.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 stock average finished down 0.25 percent to 11,159.55 after going as low as 11,065 earlier in the day. On Friday, the benchmark index fell 0.8 percent.
The broader Topix index of all first section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended down 0.74 percent to 1126.93. The Topix dropped 0.8 percent on Friday.
Investors are waiting on earnings figures later this week for some key stocks, including Honda Motor and several tech-related issues.
Japanese big banks were among the decliners in Monday trade. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group headed the banking falls, down 2.8 percent to 693,000 yen. UFJ was off 2 percent to 437,000 yen and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group lost 1.9 percent to 1.03 million yen.
Mizuho was off 1.4 percent to 429,000 yen.
Among tech-related stocks, Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba were all in the red, with falls of up to 1.75 percent. NEC recovered from an early fall to rise 0.14 percent.
Telco giant NTT plunged 5.7 percent to 527,000 yen, but its subsidiary, mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo, posted solid gains, up 1.1 percent to 186,000 yen.
Automakers Honda and Toyota also registered good gains, up 1.6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively ahead of earnings later this week.
Markets in South Korea and Taiwan finished weaker following the lower close for Wall Street Friday, when the Nasdaq dropped more than 2 percent.
In Seoul, the Kospi was down 0.18 percent to 736.21, with big exporter Hyundai Motor 1.7 percent lower to 43,000 won.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics finished steady at 418,000 won.
In Taiwan, the Taiex ened down 0.78 percent to 5331.71. Chip foundry TSMC dropped sharply, off 4.4 percent to T$40.90.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 ended virtually unchanged, up just 0.01 percent to 3485.7.
The market's biggest stock, media group News Corp, was just in the black at A$12.15, but resources leader BHP Billiton was down almost 1 percent to A$12.53.
Big bank NAB staged a turnaround after last week's falls, and was up 0.86 percent to A$27.10.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is down about 0.5 percent to 12,293.36 near the close. HSBC is slightly in the red at HK$115.50.
Singapore's Straits Times index is up 0.34 percent to 1856.56 in afternoon trade. Chip foundry Chartered Semi touched a one-year low of S$1.00. (Full story)
On Wall Street Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.88 percent to 9962.22. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index plunged 2.12 percent to 1849.09. (Full story)
