LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's markets closed mixed on Thursday, as gains in some financial stocks in Tokyo helped offset declines among high-tech firms, while Korea's chip sector was depressed by a dip on the U.S. Nasdaq overnight.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 average closed up 17.96 points, or 0.1 percent, at 14,858.43, erasing an earlier loss of more than 1 percent driven by top technology stocks.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 64.90 points, or 0.2 percent, at 14,996.24  , also rebounding from a bigger loss early in the day. Internet and telecom group Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW) rose 2.5 percent.
The Straits Times index in Singapore rose 6.54 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 1,922.28, as index heavyweight Singapore Telecommunications added 2.5 percent.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.75 percent, with telecom company Cable & Wireless Optus down 3.1 percent despite speculation about a possible bid to buy its mobile-phone arm. Optus denied a newspaper report that said it planned to spend A$3.1 billion ($1.6 billion) on its consumer and multimedia division over the next five years.
The biggest loser among Asia's major markets was Seoul's KOSPI index, which closed down 3.4 percent, led by chipmaker Samsung Electronics, which plummeted 10 percent. Taipei's Taiwan Weighted index fell 1.4 percent.
A near 6-percent tumble for the Nasdaq composite on Wall Street Wednesday cast a pall over Asia's tech stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 66.59 points to close at 10,326.48, breaking a four-session winning streak.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar rose against the Japanese yen, fetching ¥108.10, up ¥0.34 from the end of the previous business day in Japan.
Earnings gloom hits Tokyo stocks
On the Tokyo exchange, Fujitsu fell 8.9 percent to lead the retreat by leading tech stocks after more than halving its profit estimate for the full year, citing restructuring costs at its U.S. unit. However, the computer maker said half-year earnings rose more than seven-fold.
NEC fell 5.4 percent. The chipmaker benefited from robust sales of chips and strong demand for computers and cell-phones as it swung to a profit of ¥20.53 billion ($190 million) in the April-September period from a ¥51.18 billion a year earlier. 
Consumer electronics kingpin Sony fell 0.6 percent, before reporting after the market closed that net profit sank 57.4 percent in the July-September quarter, due primarily to the effect of a strengthening yen and the costs of rolling out the new PlayStation 2 video game player. Analysts said they expect a negative reaction to the earnings report on Friday.
Furukawa Electric plunged 12.1 percent, extending Wednesday's 14 percent loss after climbing to a record high on Monday. The fiber-optic cable maker dived after a report showed disappointing sales at Nortel Networks Corp., the world's No. 2 maker of telecom equipment.
Furukawa has a 14 percent stake in JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU: Research, Estimates) the world's biggest supplier of fiber-optic components and modules, whose shares fell sharply on Nortel's news. JDS is due to report its earnings for the July-September period on Thursday.
Internet investor Softbank shed 2.5 percent, while industry counterpart Hikari Tsushin jumped 5.4 percent.
In the Taipei technology sector, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing fell 1.9 percent, United Microelectronics shed 3.1 percent and computer maker Acer dropped 3.3 percent.
Auto sector and banking stocks helped keep Tokyo afloat. Honda Motor rose 1.7  percent, Mazda Motor added 4.9 percent and embattled tire firm Bridgestone climbed 6.5 percent.
In the banking sector, Sanwa Bank tacked on 1.8 percent and Tokai Bank added 3.8 percent.
In the Japanese telecom sector, NTT DoCoMo, the world's second-largest mobile phone service company, fell 0.7 percent, while among other telecom companies KDDI fell 3.5 percent and Japan Telecom slipped 4.1 percent.
In Hong Kong, China Mobile (Hong Kong) mustered a 0.5 percent gain, erasing an early loss. But China Unicom, the second-biggest mobile-phone company in mainland China after China Mobile, fell 1.6 percent.
Australian telecom operator Telstra fell 2.2 percent. Also in Sydney, News Corp., the Rupert Murdoch-controlled media powerhouse, fell 3.3 percent.
On other Asian markets, the KLSE composite index in Malaysia rose 1.2 percent, the PHS composite in Manila fell 0.1 percent, the JSX in Jakarta shed 1.1 percent, Bangkok's SET composite index rose 1 percent, while in Mumbai, the Sensex index rose 2.5 percent. 
--from staff and wire reports
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