LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's major stock markets posted a mixed performance Wednesday as Tokyo's blue-chip index lost almost 1percent in the wake of Wall Street's tumble the previous day, while Hong Kong recovered to close at a record high, spurred by a surprise jump in economic growth.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 177 points at 19,766.60, with falls in technology stocks outweighing gains for bank shares.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rallied in late afternoon trade to end 0.48 percent ahead at 17,951.43, after falling more than 2.5 percent in the morning session.
The rise was spurred by the release of fourth-quarter GDP figures that showed that the economy grew 8.7 percent in the final quarter of last year, well ahead of the 6 percent consensus estimate.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index ended 0.9 percent lower at 2,072.58 while the All Ordinaries index in Sydney closed down 1 percent at 3,218.50.
The trigger for Asia's declines was a profit warning from U.S. consumer-goods maker Procter & Gamble (PG: Research, Estimates), which helped send the Dow Jones industrial average down 374 points, or 3.68 percent, to end at 9,796.03. The Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.16 percent at 4,847.84 after it earlier pushed through the 5,000 mark for the first time.
In the currency markets, the euro remained the laggard, hitting a new low of 100.95 yen before recovering above the 102 level. Against the dollar, the euro closed the session at $0.9597, little changed from its New York close. The U.S currency strengthened to about 107 yen from 106.10 in late U.S. trading.
In the Tokyo stock market, the Nikkei's fall reflected mild declines in technology issues, with Sony Corp. slipping 0.6 percent and Internet investor Softbank off 3.7 percent. Telecom heavyweight NTT dipped 0.7 percent while chip-maker Fujitsu was among the worst hit, closing down 5 percent.
 Autos also lost ground, with Mitsubishi Motor closing down 1.2 percent after an early 3 percent spike, as the company remained linked to a takeover bid or alliance with DaimlerChrysler (FDCX). Nissan Motor tumbled 4 percent after a published report suggested the company would post a loss of 30 billion yen ($280 million) for the fiscal year 1999/2000.
The market was steadied by some firm gains among financial stocks, with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Japan's largest, ending up 1.9 percent while Sakura Bank, the third-largest, climbed 2.4 percent.
 In Hong Kong, HSBC Holdings advanced almost 3 percent, helped by the encouraging economic growth report, while property shares also firmed, with Sun Hung Kai the best performer as it rose 3.8 percent. TVB, a cellular phone operator, rose 4.3 percent, but other telecom shares fell. China Telecom was the main drag on the market, retreating 2.6 percent from its recent highs. First Pacific, a holding company for a variety of Philippines interests, lost 6 percent as scandal rocked the Manila stock exchange.
 Singapore was split evenly between gains and declines, with bank DBS Group rising 0.5 percent as Singapore Telecom fell 2 percent. Multimedia operator Creative Technology was the most heavily traded stock, jumping almost 8 percent following a round of analysts' upgrades.
In Sydney, the All Ordinaries was hit by a fall in telecom heavyweight Telstra after it reported a 21 percent rise in 1999 earnings, in line with expectations. Insurer AMP was the big gainer, closing up almost 8 percent amid speculation about a takeover bid from Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
In Manila, an insider-trading scandal rocked the market and led to the suspension of the PHS Composite after the stock exchange's entire board resigned. Trading resumed and left the index down 2.8 percent at a close of 1,639.79.
However, most other regional markets advanced. Taiwan's Weighted index posted a 9-point rise to close at 9,389.49 and the Kospi index in Seoul rose almost 1 percent to end at 915.94. The Set index in Bangkok added 1.4 percent to end at 385.56, the KLSE Composite in Kuala Lumpur rose 0.14 percent to end at 930.72 and Jakarta's JSX index climbed 1.3 percent to end at 570.52. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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