Key Asian shares down on U.S. techs

Key Asian shares down on U.S. techs

SINGAPORE (Agencies): Key Asian shares were hit on Monday by
mixed signals on the outlook for U.S. technology shares but their
fall was cushioned by resilient banking, auto and other defensive
issues.

Tokyo stocks and the yen also fell on latest dismal Japanese
economic data, raising fears of another recession.

Japan's GDP shrank by 0.2 percent in January-March from the
previous quarter, worse than an expected 0.2 percent growth,
taking the world's second-largest economy to the edge of its
fourth recession in a decade. GDP rose 0.6 percent in the
October-December quarter.

The benchmark Nikkei average ended 1.52 percent lower at
13,226.48, while the capital-weighted TOPIX index shed 0.63
percent.

Tech shares had briefly cheered the upbeat projection for
second-quarter sales by U.S. bellwether tech stock Intel Corp,
issued after the U.S. market close on Thursday.

But Japanese auto shares such as Honda Motor Co Ltd and Mazda
Motor Corp gained indirectly from the GDP data, as the weaker yen
is expected to bolster exporters' overseas revenues when
converted into the Japanese unit.

The uncertain outlook for U.S. stocks this week after last
Friday's falls will also dampen Asian and European stocks. The
tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.16 percent at 2,215,
while the Dow Jones industrial average slid just over one percent
at 10,977.

Hong Kong stocks dipped 0.22 percent to 13,778.18 in afternoon
trade, as concerns over the U.S economic slowdown hit Johnson
Electric, but China shares jumped on renewed hopes of the
country's entry into the World Trade Organization.

Micro-motor maker Johnson Electric, which gets 70 percent of
its earnings from the U.S. and Europe, shed 6.6 percent on fears
that a U.S. slowdown was biting deeper into corporate profits
than expected.

South Korean banking issues firmed up 0.24 percent on hopes of
foreign capital investment into Hynix and Hyundai Securities,
which constituted the biggest risks to local banks.

But blue chips were badly hit by futures-led sales following
the Nasdaq decline and ahead of the maturity of June futures and
options later in the week, sending the Korea Composite Stock
Price Index (KOSPI) down 2.18 percent to 608.23.

Singapore's Straits Times Index shed 1.2 percent in afternoon
trade on falls in property and technology shares.

But Malaysian stocks rallied to a five-week high as blue chips
such as Telekom Malaysia survived a spate of bad news, prompting
some to cheer that the market's recent slump is ending. The
benchmark index gained 0.82 percent, at 580.42 in the afternoon.

Taiwan's TAIEX also rose 0.86 percent at 5,271.30, on hopes
the semiconductor industry would recover in the second half. The
Semiconductor Industry Association of the United States said last
week the industry would rebound in the second half, grow 20
percent in 2002 and advance 25 percent in 2003.

Indonesian shares ended higher on late speculative buying in
telecommunications blue chips, with the market shrugging off
reports that President Abdurrahman Wahid will again reshuffle his
cabinet, dealers said.

The JSX Composite Index ended up 1.4 percent, or 5.668 points,
at 404.479.