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Asian markets slump
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May 24, 2000: 6:48 a.m. ET
Tokyo ends 1.6% lower after dip below 16,000; HK closes 2.3% lower
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's major stock markets slumped for the fifth straight session Wednesday as another sharp selloff on the tech-laden Nasdaq composite hit the region's own technology shares, leaving the blue-chip index in Tokyo at a low for the year.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 ended 274 points, or 1.68 percent, lower at 16,044.44, having earlier fallen to 15,876.34, the first time it has dipped below the 16,000 mark in a year.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed down 323 points, or 2.27 percent, at 13,933, its lowest level in six months as telecom stocks lost ground and bank shares fell on the prospect of tighter U.S. interest rates.
Singapore's Straits Times slumped 1.78 percent to close at 1,871.94, having earlier hit a 12-month low of 1,826.
In Seoul, the Kospi index ended 0.71 percent lower at 674.95.
In the United States, the Nasdaq composite slumped to its lowest level of the year as the tech-heavy index dived 5.9 percent while the Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.1 percent.
 In the currency markets, the yen maintained its recent advance against the dollar, trading around 106.60, little changed from its New York close Tuesday.
The Japanese currency has gained some 3.3 percent over the last week.
In Tokyo, tech-related stocks suffered the sharpest selling pressure, with NTT Data closing down 12.8 percent after its double-digit drop Tuesday. The data communications arm of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone said Tuesday that full-year earnings in the year ended Mar. 31, 2001 are likely to fall 49 percent. Parent NTT gained 3 percent.
"A full-fledged recovery pretty much depends on the U.S. market," Tetsuya Ishijima, chief strategist at Okasan Securities told Reuters. "Japan's high-tech shares rose on the back of their U.S. counterparts last year, so their vulnerability to losses on the Nasdaq is inevitable."
Consumer-electronics firm Sony Corp. was also hit by the Nasdaq slide, ending 5.1 percent lower, and sector peer Toshiba lost 1.9 percent.
Brokerages helped to limit the Nikkei's tumble, with market leader Nomura Securities bouncing from recent lows to end 3.2 percent higher.
 In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng's largest component, China Telecom, ended 4.7 percent lower while cellular operator SmarTone Telecom slumped 6.1 percent. HSBC Holdings, the international bank, lost 1.2 percent and conglomerate Cheung Kong (Holdings) fell 1.7 percent. All of the Hang Seng's components posted declines.
In Singapore, the market dropped for the fifth straight session, with NatSteel Electronics, the world's fifth-largest contract chipmaker losing 11 percent.
 Among smaller markets, Taiwan's TAIEX index closed down 1.97 percent in response to the latest Nasdaq selloff as the market, laden with chipmakers, closed at 8,500.41 to leave it up just 0.63 percent for the year. TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, fell 2.9 percent.
Sydney's S&P/ASX200 index closed down 0.4 percent at 3,009.50, hit by a 2 percent drop in Telstra, the country's largest telecom operator.
The Set 50 in Bangkok closed down 1.94 percent at 319.68, its lowest level in 15 months, Kuala Lumpur's KLSE Composite ended off 1.47 percent at 902.42, its lowest level in three weeks. The JSX index in Jakarta was down 0.5 percent, ending the session at 493.20.
Manila's PHS Composite bucked the regional trend as it closed up 1.01 percent at 1,418.79 to break a four-session losing streak. The market was buoyed by a 5 percent jump in Philippine Long Distance Phone Co., the nation's largest, which had slumped to a four-year low Tuesday. 
- from staff and wire reports
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