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.