LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's main markets were mixed at the close on Monday, with setbacks for technology stocks across the region after a decline on the tech-heavy Nasdaq market in the U.S. Friday.
In Japan, the Nikkei Average of 255 stocks fell 37.81 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 16,919.48, with Internet and electronics stocks heading lower.
Investors were cagey as they looked for signs of any change in Japanese government policies after Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition won the weekend's general election with a sharply reduced majority. Traders were also looking ahead to Wednesday's U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate-setting meeting.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 240.83 points, or 1.5 percent, to 15,978.91, led by index heavyweight China Telecom, which said it was in talks to acquire seven mobile-phone networks on the Chinese mainland.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index shed 7.19 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,027.12, led by declines for state-controlled Singapore Press Holdings and Creative Technologies.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was little changed at 3,177.8, with Rupert Murdoch's media company News Corp. falling more than 3.3 percent, in step with Friday's decline in its American Depositary Receipts. U.K.-based mining giant Rio Tinto jumped 6.7 percent following Friday's announcement of a A$2.8 billion ($1.66 billion) takeover bid for Australian mining and forestry company North.
In the U.S. Friday, the Nasdaq composite index dropped 2.3 percent to 3,845.39, shedding more than 2 percent for the second straight day, amid increasing uncertainty about the outcome of the Fed's deliberations on interest rates later this week. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 28.63 points to 10,404.75.
In the currency market Monday, the yen weakened to ¥104.83 against the dollar from ¥104.69 in late trading in New York Friday.
Tech investors get jitters
Internet-related stocks in Tokyo fell, led by Web investor Softbank Corp, which dropped 7.8 percent to ¥15,850, mirroring losses for its U.S. counterparts. Online security provider Trend Micro lost 8.7 percent.
A near 20 percent tumble in U.S. Internet retailer Amazon.com (AMZN: Research, Estimates) on Friday turned up the pressure on technology and Internet stocks in Asia. A report by a U.S. analyst that raised concern about Amazon's earnings prospects sparked worries that Internet stocks in general were overvalued.
Japan's best-known e-retailer Rakuten dropped ¥250,000, or 4.8 percent, to ¥4.9 million. Internet portal Yahoo Japan, which is 40 percent owned by Softbank, declined 7 percent.
Consumer electronics giant Sony fell 1.4 percent after the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported the company was likely to post a consolidated net loss of ¥110 billion ($1 billion) for the April-June quarter to cover non-operating costs.
NTT DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile-phone operator, fell 3.6 percent, its parent Nippon Telegraph and Telephone lost 2.1 percent and telecom operator DDI Corp declined 3.6 percent.
In Hong Kong, China Telecom rose 3.9 percent to HK$66.50 after it said it was in talks to buy seven mobile-phone networks. The purchase could be worth about HK$150 billion ($1.9 billion), analysts said.
Telecom operator China Unicom, which listed its shares last Thursday, fell 0.6 percent to HK$15.75, close to the HK$15.58 issue price paid by institutional investors.
London-based HSBC Holdings gained 2 percent, leading Hong Kong's banking sector higher, as some investors moved into financial-services shares on optimism the U.S. Fed would leave interest rates unchanged this week. Hang Seng Bank rose 2.4 percent to HK$74.25.
Elsewhere in Asia, the Kospi index in Seoul added 1.6 percent and Jakarta's JSX rose 0.9 percent. But in Bangkok, the composite SET index fell 0.7 percent, while Taipei's Weighted index fell 1.8 percent and Manila's PHS Composite shed 0.7 percent.
The KLSE in Malaysia fell 1 percent after a late start following technical problems. 
--from staff and wire reports
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