LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's leading markets drifted to a mixed close Monday, as technology stocks fell in Tokyo and property shares lagged in Singapore, while a boost for banking shares underpinned Hong Kong's major index.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed down 110.77 points, or 0.6 percent, at 15,097.96. Jitters about upcoming earnings reports weighed on technology stocks while in the Internet sector, Softbank tumbled 7.9 percent and Hikari Tsushin plunged 16.8 percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 57.83 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 15,102.36, as gains for bank issues outweighed a 2.8 percent slide for index heavyweight China Mobile (Hong Kong) ahead of a forthcoming share sale. 
Singapore's Straits Times index slipped 9.18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,914.49, dragged down in part by property stocks. City Development slipped 3.8 percent and DBS Land fell 4 percent.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index nosed up 1 percent, driven by a 3.5 percent gain for telecom powerhouse Telstra.
Elsewhere, the KOSPI index in South Korea declined 3.2 percent, but the Taiwan Weighted index in Taipei added 1.5 percent.
Asia felt little benefit from gains on Wall Street Friday, as traders said the region's markets had already factored in the good feeling for tech stocks that bolstered U.S. markets. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 83.61 points to 10,226.59, while the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.9 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar rose to ¥108.92 against the Japanese yen from ¥108.56 at the end of Friday in Tokyo.
Techs depress Nikkei
Jitters ahead of a sale of shares in Nippon Telegraph and Telephone continued to weigh on sentiment in Tokyo, driving NTT down 3.1 percent. The company's mobile-phone subsidiary NTT DoCoMo, the world's No. 2 cell-phone company, fell 2.9 percent.
Among leading Japanese tech stocks, computer and chip manufacturer Fujitsu lost 3 percent, NEC shed 2.6 percent, and consumer electronics giant Sony dropped 1.8 percent. All three are expected to announce their first-half earnings later this week. 
Sanyo Electric retreated 2.5 percent after media reports that the electronics manufacturer sold thousands of faulty solar power systems.
Fears about the survival prospects of companies in poor financial health depressed construction firms Fujita, which shed 3 percent, and Hazama, which shed 2.4 percent, after last Friday's bankruptcy filing of medium-sized insurer Kyoei Life Insurance.
Banks, oil titan bolster Hang Seng
In Hong Kong, mainland Chinese oil producer PetroChina closed up 5.1 percent as investors said the company stood to benefit more from rising crude oil prices than its sector peers.
Hong Kong mobile-phone operator SmarTone rose 1.8 percent after earlier falling more than 5 percent after media reports said shareholder British Telecommunications (BT-A) was considering selling its stake to reduce its debts.
Banking shares shone in Hong Kong. Hang Seng Bank rallied 2 percent, Dao Heng Bank rose 1.3 percent and HSBC Holdings added 2.8 percent. Conglomerate First Pacific jumped 4.2 percent.
In Singapore, NatSteel Electronics, the world's sixth-largest contract electronics manufacturer, jumped 11.2 percent, gaining sharply for a second straight trading day amid talk that U.S.-based electronics manufacturer Solectron Corp. was interested in acquiring the 33 percent stake held by NatSteel Ltd.
Singapore chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor fell 1.85 percent.
Australian business software group Solution 6 Holdings saw its shares plunge 17.2 percent in Sydney after the firm cut its earnings forecast.
In other Asian markets, Bangkok's SET index rose 0.15 percent, the KLSE composite in Malaysia rose 0.6 percent, Manila's PHS Composite rose 1.3 percent and the JSX index in Jakarta dropped 0.7 percent. 
--from staff and wire reports
|
