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Asia sinks into red
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November 21, 2000: 5:42 a.m. ET
Political concerns hit Tokyo; banking, tech, telecom shares sink in HK
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's main markets fell Tuesday as investors turned sour on technology and telecom shares following a steep decline on the U.S. Nasdaq market a day earlier.
 In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average ended down 0.9 percent at 14,408.46 after Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori survived a no-confidence motion, dashing hopes that his government would be replaced by a more reform-minded administration.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1 percent to close at 15,188.30, rising from the day's low of 15,013.82 as telecom and technology stocks pared earlier losses.
Singapore's Straits Times index slipped 0.5 percent to 1,924.38 with a rebound by market heavyweights trimming steeper declines.
In currency dealings, the U.S. dollar rose against the yen to ¥110.23 in late Tokyo trade from ¥109.92 in New York late on Monday.
In the U.S. Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.6 percent to end at 10,462.65. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index fell 5 percent to 2,875.64, its lowest level in more than a year, after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Lehman Brothers lowered their recommendations on some key technology shares.
Mori vote, tech declines hit Tokyo
Tokyo stocks fell for a fourth straight session, with the failure of the attempt to dislodge Mori as prime minister weighing on the market while large-cap technology issues were hit by the Nasdaq's fall.
Electronics maker Sony fell 2.2 percent while Internet investor Softbank ended down 1.5 percent.
"The result of the no-confidence vote was disappointing to say the least," said Tsuyoshi Segawa, general manager of equity derivatives at Sakura Securities. "The budget should go through now, but the political uncertainty's still there."
The parliament is expected to approve a ¥4.78 trillion ($43.5 billion) supplementary budget, designed to bolster the economy's recovery in the first half of next year.
Chip and electronics maker Fujitsu sank 3.5 percent and rival NEC lost 2.4 percent while electronics firm Toshiba shed 4.3 percent.
Mazda Motor jumped 6.3 percent, extending its rally to a third session after announcing its latest revamp, which includes job cuts and a partial shift of production to Europe.
Nasdaq weighs on Hong Kong
Hong Kong telecom and technology shares tracked losses by their U.S. counterparts, but managed to recoup some of their steep earlier losses.
 Shares of Internet and telecom firm Pacific Century CyberWorks ended down 1.8 percent after earlier touching a low for the year of HK$5.50.
Other telecom and technology issues were also lower with China Mobile, mainland China's largest mobile-phone company, down 1.5 percent after investment banks Credit Suisse First Boston and Salomon Smith Barney reduced their target prices for the stock.
Ports-to-telecommunication conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa fell 1 percent and SmarTone Telecommunications shed 1.6 percent.
Market heavyweight HSBC Holdings fell 0.9 percent.
First Pacific fell 1 percent after investors turned sour on the conglomerate's deal with Bank of East Asia, Hong Kong's fourth-largest bank, for a stake in banking firm FPB Bank Holdings.
First Pacific said on Monday it would buy a further 33.75 percent stake in FPB Bank and sell its combined 75 percent stake to Bank of East Asia for HK$3.3 billion ($423.1 million). Bank of East Asia shares were down 2.7 percent and FPB Bank shares were up 8.1 percent.
Among the winners, food distributor Ng Fung Hong shot up 30.8 percent on resumption of trade after investors welcomed plans by China-backed conglomerate China Resources to privatize its 53.6 percent-owned Ng Fung Hong as part of its restructuring. China Resources shares were up 6.1 percent.
In Singapore, United Overseas Bank fell 2.4 percent while OCBC Bank lost 2.7 percent. DBS Group Holdings fell 1.1 percent.
Chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 2.9 percent, turning around earlier losses, and Singapore Telecommunications added 2.2 percent after hitting an intra-day low.
 In Taipei, the Taiwan Weighted index bucked the negative regional trend, rising 5.3 percent to close at 5,103.00. Dealers said the government bought shares in the market after the key index slumped 6.2 percent on Monday to its lowest level for more than four and a half years.
The Ministry of Finance announced a package of market-boosting measures, such as halving to 3.5 percent the size of a share price decline that triggers a trading halt. The change will apply until the end of the year.
Chipmaker United Microelectronics rose by the 7 percent daily upward limit while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 6.8 percent.
Seoul's Kospi index ended down 1.1 percent at 531.45, hit by a political stand-off and the won's slide against the dollar.
South Korea's opposition party began a boycott of the National Assembly after its failed motion to impeach the country's top prosecutors for allegedly biased investigations of party lawmakers in the April parliamentary poll. Investors feared the stalemate would delay key reform legislation.
The won closed at 1,167.5 won per U.S. dollar, its lowest close since Nov. 23, 1999.
Hyundai Engineering and Construction, a unit of the country's second-largest conglomerate Hyundai Group, ended down by the 3 percent daily limit after it unveiled a 1.3 trillion won plan on Monday to stave off bankruptcy.
Mobile-phone operator SK Telecom shed 2.6 percent while Pohang Iron and Steel shed 2 percent.
Australian shares fall
Australian shares retreated across the board after Wall Street's tumble rattled investors.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.7 percent to 3,300.9, as three hours of trading on Australian Stock Exchange were lost to a hardware failure.
A 0.8 percent decline in shares of media heavyweight News Corp. accounted for a large part of the index's fall.
Local telecommunications and technology stocks were hit hard in early trade. Australia's largest telecom operator, Telstra, which has only recently returned to favor, fell 2.5 percent. Its main competitor, Cable & Wireless Optus, fell almost 0.7 percent.
Shares in optical and protective equipment group OPSM Protector fell 7.1 percent after it said its interim dividend was under review because of a fall in net profit in the four months to Oct. 31.
Elsewhere in the region, Bangkok's SET index fell 0.5 percent, Jakarta's JSX index slipped 0.2 percent, the KLSE Composite index in Kuala Lumpur dropped 1.6 percent and Manila's PHS Composite ended down 1.1 percent.
--from staff and wire reports 
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