LONDON (CNNfn) - Tumbling tech shares took their toll on stock indexes in Tokyo and Singapore Friday as most Asian markets closed lower, although Taipei's main stock benchmark bounded higher as the Taiwanese government pumped money into the market.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.7 percent to end at 15,994.24, burdened by declines for market heavyweights Fujitsu and NEC.
Singapore's Straits Times Index tumbled 1.6 percent to 1,962.97 , while Hong Kong's stock market was closed for a public holiday.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar weakened slightly against the Japanese yen late in Tokyo trade. The dollar bought ¥108.92, down from ¥109.05 late in New York Thursday.
In the U.S. Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 percent, or 59.56 points, to 10,724.92 while the Nasdaq composite index shed 1.5 percent, or 51.44 points, to 3,471.66. U.S. computer related stocks fell in line with Dell Computer (DELL: Research, Estimates), which tumbled 11 percent, after saying the previous day that weak European sales probably would cause fourth-quarter earnings to miss Wall Street estimates.
Tokyo techs down on earnings concerns
In Tokyo, computer maker Fujitsu slid 3.1 percent and NEC lost 3.8 percent as computer-related shares followed their U.S. counterparts lower.
Electronics firm Sanyo was down 3.3 percent and Internet investor Softbank shed 3.7 percent.
"Investors initially guessed Japan's high-techs were quite independent of the U.S. market, but everyone's been quite worried since there have been so many profit warnings," said Masafumi Nakayama, strategist at Mito Securities.
Taisho Pharmaceutical tumbled 9.6 percent after business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the drug maker's current profit for the six months ended Sept. 30 was likely to be ¥41 billion ($380 million), below the company's previous forecast of ¥46 billion.
Takeda Chemical Industries lost 2.3 percent after the drug maker said five instances of non-fatal heart failure had been reported among some 90,000 users of its diabetes drug Actos.
In Singapore, contract manufacturer Omni Industries, a supplier to Dell and other U.S. computer makers, fell 2 percent while rival NatSteel Electronics skidded 6.2 percent. Financials were also lower, with DBS Group Holdings down 2.9 percent and OCBC shedding 4.3 percent.
Taiwan government steps into market again
In Taipei, the Taiwan Weighted index rose 5.4 percent to close at 6,353.67 as the government continued to tap its 500 billion Taiwan dollar ($16 billion) state stabilization fund. Market sentiment also improved after a cabinet reshuffle.
Microchip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Comal Electronics, a key supplier for Dell's notebook computers, each gained 7 percent.
 Seoul's KOSPI index ended up 0.3 percent at 608.85, led by telecom shares. SK Telecom, the nation's largest mobile carrier, rose 1.9 percent while state-run Korea Telecom gained 5.4 percent. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 1 percent, bouncing steeper earlier loss of 4.6 percent.
Australian shares closed lower as the weak Australian dollar weighed on the market. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.5 percent to 3,293.5.
The currency was trading at 53.21 U.S. cents after earlier falling to a new low of 52.80 cents.
The market was also hit by a 5.3 percent slide in shares of its most valuable company, News Corp. American depositary receipts of Rupert Murdoch's media company fell about 7.2 percent in New York on Thursday, due partly to concern about the valuation of its satellite broadcasting assets, which Murdoch plans to float later this year.
Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto fell 0.8 percent following a 3 percent decline in London. Investors considered the possibility Rio might top South African diamond group De Beers' fresh offer of A$2.28 ($1.20) per share for Australian diamond miner Ashton Mining.
Ashton rose 0.8 percent to A$2.37, some 4 percent above De Beers' offer.
On other markets, Bangkok's SET index fell 0.4 percent while Jakarta's JSX index lost 0.5 percent and Kuala Lumpur's KLSE Composite shed 0.8 percent. Manila's PHS Composite index was little changed 
--from staff and wire reports
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