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Asian markets swing lower
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June 23, 2000: 6:14 a.m. ET
Tokyo, Hong Kong dip after Nasdaq drop; mobile phone firms take a hit
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's leading markets retreated Friday, with telecommunications and Internet-related stocks losing ground in Tokyo following the U.S. Nasdaq composite index's first spill in five sessions.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 closed down 142.80 points, or 0.8 percent, to 16,963.21, with technology bellwethers such as Sony headed lower. The electronics giant dropped 1.6 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 214.28 points, or 1.3 percent, to 15,756.07, while in Singapore the Straits Times index rose 5.69 points, or  0.3 percent, to 2,034.31.
Elsewhere among Asia's biggest markets, Australia's S&P/ASX nosed up 0.1 percent to 3,217.3, despite a 3.4-percent decline for media giant News Corp. The Kospi index in Seoul shed 0.4 percent and the Taiwan Weighted shed 1 percent in Taipei as major semiconductor-related issues fell.
Wall Street closed lower Thursday. The Nasdaq composite tumbled 3 percent, snapping a five-day winning streak that put the tech stock-heavy index within six points of where it ended 1999. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 121.62 points, or 1 percent, to 10,376.12, while the S&P 500 fell 2 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded at ¥104.30, little changed from ¥104.40 in New York Thursday morning. The euro fell to 93.87 U.S. cents from 94.27 cents in New York Thursday.
On the Tokyo exchange Friday, mobile-phone service provider NTT DoCoMo dropped 1 percent, dragged down along with other information technology issues following the Nasdaq's losses. Confidence also took a hit from Standard & Poor's report that the ratings agency was keeping DoCoMo's long-term corporate credit rating on CreditWatch.
Telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, DoCoMo's parent, fell 1.4 percent.
Internet IPO rises
On the new-issue scene, online investment information provider Morningstar Japan KK rose 21 percent to ¥8.5 million on its first day on the new Nasdaq Japan market, after selling shares at ¥7 million each. The launch marks the first IPO on the new market of a company held by of Internet investment firm Softbank, whose shares sank 5.2 percent Friday.
On the upside in the Internet sector was Cyber Agent, rising 10.4 percent after the Web advertising agent unveiled plans for a four-for-one share split on Sept. 20.
In the automotive sector, Mazda Motor fell 3.6 percent, in the wake of Thursday's announcement of weak sales and output figures for May, when other top rivals posted mostly upbeat numbers.
In Hong Kong, China Unicom, a mobile-phone company that made its Hong Kong debut Thursday, slipped 5.7 percent, reflecting weak market sentiment and a view among some investors that the stock was overpriced, analysts said.
Other telecom firms were also weak. Hang Seng index heavyweight China Telecom, soon to change its name to China Mobile (Hong Kong), fell 2.3 percent, while Hutchison Whampoa shed 1.3 percent.
Investors turned to companies with prospects for growth in China. Property firm Beijing North Star rose 3.9 percent, while financial services provider China Everbright rose 2.6 percent following recent news of a management change.
In Singapore, Venture Manufacturing fell 5.7 percent amid concerns about growth prospects for the electronics contract manufacturer.
Elsewhere across the Pacific Rim, Manila's PHS composite shed 0.2 percent, Jakarta's JSX index rose 0.3 percent, the KLSE composite in Kuala Lumpur dropped 1.3 percent and in Bangkok, the SET index fell 0.2 percent. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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