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Tokyo rises, Asia mixed
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October 12, 2000: 5:45 a.m. ET
Japanese index recovers early chip, tech losses; HK telecom, tech shares slip
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Asia's main markets closed mixed Thursday, with Tokyo nosing higher after recovering from an early decline, while other markets fell on renewed concerns about the outlook for high-tech firms' earnings.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.2 percent at 15,550.64, and  Singapore's Straits Times index also turned around an earlier slide to end up 1 percent at 1,865.85. But in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.4 percent to close at 15,074.80.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar strengthened slightly against the Japanese yen, buying ¥107.68 in late trading in Tokyo, up from ¥107.61 in New York the previous day.
In the U.S. Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.1 percent to 10,413.79 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index tumbled 2.2 percent to 3,168.49, its fifth straight loss.
Tokyo stocks recover
Tokyo's Nikkei rebounded after falling to a 19-month low earlier in Thursday's session. The revival was led by NEC, Japan's biggest chipmaker, gaining 5.1 percent after a slide of almost 15 percent over the past week, and electronics and semiconductor maker Fujitsu, which rose 3 percent to pare the past week's 13 percent decline.
Internet investor Hikari Tsushin gained 2.4 percent, a slight recovery from Thursday's 11 percent plunge.
Itochu Techno-Science, the information-processing unit of Itochu, jumped 13.5 percent after raising its group net profit estimate to ¥6.5 billion ($60 million) for the six months ended September from a previous forecast of ¥2.6 billion.
But gloomy sentiment among U.S. technology investors continued to depress some Tokyo shares. Consumer electronics bellwether Sony was down 1.3 percent and Internet investor Softbank, taking a cue from Nasdaq's persistent declines, dropped 4.4 percent.
Optical fiber maker Furukawa Electric fell 4.3 percent, extending Wednesday's loss following the previous day's earnings warning by Lucent Technologies (LU: Research, Estimates), the world's largest maker of telecommunication equipment.
Hong Kong falls on telecom, tech losses
In Hong Kong, index heavyweight China Mobile led the market into the red. Mainland China's biggest mobile phone company shed 1.4 percent, extending the past three sessions' losses.
Internet and telecom firm Pacific Century CyberWorks shed 2.6 percent.
 China's biggest computer maker Legend Holdings was off 0.8 percent, extending a 6 percent drop in Wednesday's global tech sell-off.
Gains for utility and bank shares helped to narrow the Hang Seng index's decline. Electricity provider CLP Holdings rose 1.5 percent ,and Hang Seng Bank, an affiliate of HSBC Holdings, surged 3.3 percent.
In Taipei, the Taiwan Weighted index shed 3.9 percent to close at a 20-month low of 5,805.01, as Nasdaq's fall and concerns over the government's restoration of the daily 7 percent downward limit for stock price moves weighed on the market. The government had cut the daily limit to 3.5 percent from Oct. 4 to Oct. 11 to keep the market from dropping sharply amid a government reshuffle.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ended down 7 percent and United Microelectronics was also down by the daily limit.
 Singapore shares rebounded in afternoon trade. Chartered Semiconductor rose 2.6 percent while its sister company ST Assembly, which provides testing services for chips, rose 2.7 percent.
Seoul's Kospi index plunged 4 percent to end at 534.71 as investors dumped shares in South Korea's main fixed-line telecom company Korea Telecom, which ended down 7.8 percent. Mobile operator SK Telecom fell 3.8 percent and chipmaker Samsung Electronics ended 2.5 percent lower.
Elsewhere in Asia
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1 percent, its seventh straight loss, to close at 3,226.8. Media firm News Corp's ordinary shares fell 6.7 percent and its preferred stock lost 6.4 percent. Together, the issues represent about 13 percent of the benchmark index.
Coles Myer, Australia's largest retailer, ended down 6.2 percent on concerns it will drop its discount card for shoppers. The decline came even after the company unveiled a bigger-than-expected 9.3 percent increase in the latest fiscal year's profit, which came in at 483.7 million Australian dollars ($256.5 million) before exceptional items.
Bangkok's SET index rebounded 2.9 percent, and the KLSE Composite ended up 3.3 percent in Kuala Lumpur. Manila's PHS Composite index shed 0.6 percent, and Jakarta's JSX index fell 1 percent. 
--from staff and wire reports
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