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Asia mixed, Tokyo lower
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January 9, 2001: 5:24 a.m. ET
Tech and telecom shares drag Tokyo lower; banks, techs higher elsewhere
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asian stock markets ended mixed Tuesday afternoon as technology and telecom stocks pulled Tokyo lower while other markets benefited from gains in banking and tech shares.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average ended down 1.9 percent at 13,610.51. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index closed up 0.4 percent at 15,500.59.  The Straits Times index in Singapore gained 0.9 percent to finish at 1,968.07.
In currency dealings, the dollar was little changed against the yen, buying ¥115.84, compared with ¥115.98 in late trading in New York a day earlier.
Markets ended lower in the U.S. Monday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average shedding 0.4 percent to end at 10,621.35 while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed down 0.5 percent at 2,395.92.
In Tokyo, concerns about slowing U.S. economic growth and the Japanese government's planned sale of shares in Nippon Telegraph & Telephone unsettled investors as they returned from Monday's public holiday.
"Bearish sentiment after the U.S. tumble shifted investor attention more towards the negative impact of the weak yen rather than its positive effects (on exporters' earnings)," said Koji Hayakawa, equities general manager at Ichiyoshi Securities.
"Market players are worried that international investors are now more reluctant to invest in Tokyo due to this weak yen."
Yen deterring overseas buyers?
Although a weaker yen boosts exporters' overseas earnings when converted into the Japanese currency, it also can discourage overseas traders from investing in Tokyo stocks for fear of seeing the dollar value of their Japanese assets fall.
Exporter NEC fell 3.4 percent Tuesday. Shares in the chip and computer maker had risen last week as the yen weakened.
NTT, the world's largest phone company by sales, fell 5.9 percent. The Ministry of Finance is due to sell 1 million shares in the former state monopoly in the fiscal year starting April 1.
NTT's separately listed mobile phone unit NTT DoCoMo shed 5 percent.
Japan Tobacco tumbled more than 11 percent after Japanese daily newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun said the government is considering cutting its stake in the world's third-largest maker of tobacco products to 50 percent from the current 66.7 percent.
Ajinomoto, Japan's largest producer of food seasonings, closed down by its daily limit of 14 percent, following news that four senior officials at a subsidiary in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, were arrested last week after Jakarta ordered the unit to stop selling products using pig enzymes. Consumption of pork is prohibited by Islamic law.
Internet investor Softbank plunged more than 10 percent, falling for a fifth straight day in response to persistent declines in the value of U.S. technology stocks, in which Softbank is a big investor.
Hong Kong property shares wilt
In Hong Kong the Hang Seng index see-sawed between profit and loss for the day.
A gain for market heavyweight Hutchison Whampoa helped offset weakness in property developers' shares, which fell as the market balked at share sales by companies in the sector.
 Sino Land fell 2.6 percent after the company said it was issuing 180 million shares, with an option to expand that by another 90 million shares.
Amoy Properties slid 6.7 percent to HK$8.40, amid rumors it has been testing investors' response to a sale of shares at HK$8.28 each. The stock on Friday rose to its highest intraday level in more than three years, touching HK$9.50.
"The market would have expected a placement at a bigger discount," Lau said. Amoy officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 2.1 percent.
Ports-to-telecom conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa gained 1.8 percent following news of its plan to issue $2.5 billion worth of notes convertible into shares in U.K. mobile-phone operator Vodafone Group.
"The market thinks the note issue is slightly positive for Hutchison because it will help the company raise funds for third-generation mobile-phone ventures in Europe and the conversion price of the bonds is at a very good premium on the Vodafone share price," said Herbert Lau, research director at Celestial Asia Securities.
However, he said shares in tycoon Li Ka-shing's conglomerate were unlikely to outperform the market for long as global sentiment on telecom shares remains weak.
Banking firm HSBC Holdings ended up 1.3 percent while its affiliate Hang Seng Bank gained 1.9 percent.
Many investors continued to focus on recent laggards among China shares. Investors are betting on China's smooth entry into the World Trade Organization and its continued rapid economic growth in coming years.
Mainland Chinese conglomerate Citic Pacific was up 3.1 percent after underperforming the market in recent weeks.
Elsewhere in Asia Pacific
Demand for banks and tech stocks fueled gains in Singapore. The city-state's largest bank DBS Group Holdings ended up 2.9 percent and United Overseas Bank rose 2.2 percent. Contract electronics manufacturer Venture Manufacturing surged over 5 percent.
In Taipei, the Taiwan Weighted index rallied 3.6 percent to close at 5,376.12 as investors snapped up semiconductor stocks, betting that manufacturers would report brisk December sales.
Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing added 3.9 percent and said after the market closed that its sales in the month more than doubled. Rival United Microelectronics surged 5 percent.
In Seoul, the KOSPI ended up 0.6 percent at 589.92, boosted by buying by overseas investors.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index slipped 0.6 percent to 3,244.9.
Coles Myer, Australia's largest retailer, plunged 6.1 percent after The Age newspaper, citing an internal Coles report, said department store sales were poor.
Furniture and electronics retailer Harvey Norman fell 3.1 percent.
Global media firm News Corp., the most heavily weighted stock on the benchmark index, slipped 0.5 percent.
Elsewhere, Bangkok's SET index gained 0.9 percent, Jakarta's JSX index dipped 0.2 percent, Kuala Lumpur's KLSE composite shed 0.1 percent and Manila's PHS composite ended up 2.5 percent.
--from staff and wire reports 
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