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Asian markets retreat
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July 13, 2000: 6:19 a.m. ET
Sogo woes dent Tokyo, real estate suffers in HK; techs follow Nasdaq higher
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's major markets closed lower Thursday, with Tokyo's leading index succumbing to concern triggered by the collapse of department store operator Sogo while declines for property companies depressed Hong Kong and Singapore.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closed down 305.23 points, or 1.8 percent, at 17,036.90. Sogo announced late Wednesday it had filed for bankruptcy, Japan's second-biggest bankruptcy filing on record, after government officials grew jittery about a planned bailout amid public criticism.
 The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed down 102.76 points, or 0.6 percent, at 17,449.50, amid weakness in the property sector, while the Singapore Straits Times dropped 1.3 percent to 2,085.01.
In other leading Pacific Rim markets, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index shed 0.4 percent, with media conglomerate News Corp. dropping 1.2 percent. But the Taiwan Weighted index in Taipei rose 2.6 percent on strong demand for electronics shares, and the Kospi index in Seoul rose 0.7 percent.
In the currency market, the dollar fetched ¥107.57, pulling back from ¥108.27 in late New York trading on Wednesday. The U.S. currency had touched a six-week high of ¥108.46 on Wednesday.
 The fallout from Sogo's bankruptcy rippled through banking stocks on Tokyo's exchange. Industrial Bank of Japan, Sogo's biggest creditor, slumped 7.9 percent, while Fuji Bank fell 6.7 percent and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank dropped 5.7 percent.
Sogo shares closed limit down, falling 36 percent to ¥53. The Tokyo Stock Exchange said the shares would be de-listed on October 13.
Also falling on Thursday were two ailing contractors that some investors speculated were likely to receive public funds to keep them afloat if the Sogo bailout had gone through. Hazama sank 23.1 percent and Kumagai Gumi shed 19.6 percent.
Technology stocks got a lift from a 3.6-percent gain for the U.S. Nasdaq composite index on Wednesday, after the Web portal and Internet bellwether Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates) unveiled better than-expected quarterly earnings. Internet investor Softbank, one of the largest shareholders in Yahoo!, clambered up 4 percent.
Canon raises earnings forecast
Printer and copier maker Canon rose 3.1 percent after it raised its profit estimates for the year to Dec. 31 in a statement released after the market closed Wednesday.
In Hong Kong, property and telecom conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa fell 0.4 percent after Wednesday's announcement that it would team up with Dutch telecom company Royal KPN and Japanese partner NTT DoCoMo to try to enter at least four of Europe's third-generation mobile phone markets. NTT DoCoMo fell 3.8 percent in Tokyo.
London-based international bank HSBC Holdings rose 1 percent while Union Bank of Hong Kong climbed 14 percent after China-based parent Industrial Commercial Bank of China said it might inject assets into the debt-laden local bank, analysts said.
And in Singapore, shares of property firm DBS Land fell 3.4 percent after it unveiled a merger on Wednesday with state-owned developer Pidemco Land, creating southeast Asia's largest listed property company, with assets of S$18 billion (US$10.3 billion).
Elsewhere in Asia, Jakarta's JSX index slipped 1 percent, Manila's PHS composite rose 0.45 percent, the KLSE composite in Malaysia rose 0.2 percent, and in Bangkok, the SET index fell 1 percent. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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