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Asian markets retreat
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November 22, 2000: 5:47 a.m. ET
Tech shares depress Tokyo; telecom, banking, property stocks fall in HK
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LONDON (CNNfn) - High-technology and telecom shares slumped throughout the Asia-Pacific region Wednesday, dragging most benchmark indexes into the red as uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election hovered over the markets.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average fell 0.7 percent to a 20-month closing low of 14,301.31  In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng ended down 2.7 percent at 14,772.51, with losses across the board from telecom to banking and property shares.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index fell 0.7 percent to 1,911.07.
In the currency market, the Japanese yen strengthened to ¥109.65 against the U.S. dollar from ¥110.02 late in New York the previous day.
In U.S. markets Tuesday, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 31.85 points, or 0.3 percent, to 10,495.50. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 4.34 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,871.30, its lowest close since Oct. 27, 1999.
Tokyo stocks post modest losses
Tokyo's main index dropped after a ruling in the Florida Supreme Court that was seen as a setback for George W. Bush, the Republican candidate for the U.S. presidency, who is considered more pro-business than Democrat Al Gore.
 Leading the index lower was mobile telecom operator NTT DoCoMo, Japan's biggest company by market capitalization, which tumbled 4.5 percent after news it was set to acquire up to a 20 percent stake in AT&T Wireless Group, a unit of AT&T (T: Research, Estimates), in a deal valued at $9 billion.
"Deals like this would give DoCoMo a boost if the market was strong," said Hidenori Kawasaki, general manager in equity trading at Kokusai Securities. "But it's apparently ill-timed as everyone is so concerned about (general) weak demand in the stock market."
DoCoMo's parent Nippon Telegraph & Telephone fell 3.5 percent.
Mobile-phone subscription agent and Internet investor Hikaru Tsushin plummeted 11.5 percent after its earnings report and business forecast disappointed investors.
Rival Internet investor Softbank tumbled 7.4 percent.
Among electronics shares, Fujitsu shed 1.9 percent and chipmaker NEC lost 1.5 percent, while heavyweight Sony added 1.3 percent.
Hitachi Zosen surged more than 16 percent after the shipbuilder said it had won eight orders for very large crude oil carriers in the half year to September, while it hadn't won any in the comparable period a year earlier.
Hong Kong telecom shares tumble
In Hong Kong, China Mobile, mainland China's largest mobile-phone company and the Hang Seng index's second-biggest stock by market capitalization, fell 6.3 percent following moves by two investment banks to lower their recommendations on the stock. Uncertainty over when and by how much Chinese regulators would cut telecommunication service fees also hit the shares.
 China Unicom, the No. 2 mobile-phone company in China, fell 3.3 percent, while Internet and telecom firm Pacific Century CyberWorks lost 2.7 percent, after earlier touching a new 52-week low of HK$5.40.
Ports-to-telecom conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa fell 2.2 percent.
Market heavyweight HSBC Holdings shed 2.2 percent while the bank's affiliate Hang Seng Bank declined 2.7 percent.
Property developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) slipped 1.6 percent and rival Sun Hung Kai Properties was 2.4 percent lower.
In Seoul, the KOSPI closed down 1.7 percent at 522.33 as international investors sold banking shares amid lingering concerns over financial and corporate restructuring.
Hanvit Bank fell 2.5 percent, and the banking sub-index lost 3.7 percent.
Support for Taiwan shares
In Taipei, the Taiwan Weighted index ended up 0.5 percent at 5,130.61 as government measures to boost the market succeeded in supporting prices.
China Airlines rose 7 percent, the daily limit for a price rise, after newspaper reports that legislators had signed a petition asking the government to take action on building direct transportation links between the island and China.
Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing fell 3.2 percent while rival United Microelectronics fell 1.9 percent. Memory-chip maker Mosel Vitelic rose 1.9 percent.
Tech shares also drooped in Singapore. Chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. dived 7 percent, and Venture Manufacturing lost 3.2 percent.
In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 0.5 percent at 3,284.7 as market heavyweight News Corp. saw its ordinary shares drop 3.3 percent in reaction to overnight losses in its American depositary receipts after investment house Morgan Stanley Dean Witter cut its rating on News Corp. shares to "outperform" from "strong buy." The company's preferred stock slid 4.7 percent.
Fellow media issue Publishing and Broadcasting ended about 2 percent lower.
Elsewhere in the region, Bangkok's SET index closed down 1.2 percent, Kuala Lumpur's KLSE Composite shed 0.9 percent and Jakarta's JSX index rose 1.5 percent. In Manila, the PHS Composite ended up 0.5 percent.
--from staff and wire reports 
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