ASIA MARKETS: Japan Stocks Drop; Hong Kong Up After Storm

By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese and Taiwanese stocks fell Thursday after a pullback on Wall Street, while Hong Kong equities rose on the back of results from Lenovo Group Ltd. and Li & Fung Ltd., and an increase in gold prices limited losses for Australian shares.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.9%, and Taiwan's Taiex gave up 1%.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up 0.3% in choppy trade, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.2%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.1% lower after also moving in both directions. The South Korean market was closed for a holiday.

The mixed performance came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) Wednesday dropped more than 100 points for the first time since June, amid concerns about rising Treasury yields, and some weak results. A sharp drop in shares of technology major and Dow component Cisco Corp. (CSCO) in after-hours trade also weighed on Asia.

"The old adage that fear sells couldn't be truer at the moment. Chatter around a potential 1987-type crash or a looming market top in U.S. equities is growing louder by the day," said Rivkin analyst Tim Radford.

However, "as long as the big investors are confident in the U.S. economy and the U.S. equity market, we shouldn't see an overly big selloff from current levels in the near term," he said.

Losses in Tokyo surfaced across several sectors, coming as the U.S. dollar (USDJPY) moved below the Yen98-level.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMTOY) slid 2.3%, Panasonic Corp. (PCRFY) shed 2.5%, Fast Retailing Co. (FRCOY) gave up 1.2%, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. (DSECY) lost 2.9%, and telecommunications major Softbank Corp. (9984.TO) declined 2.2%.

In Sydney, gold miners climbed after the metal's prices rose 1% overnight. Shares of Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCMGF) popped 3.4%, and Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. (KCN.AU) advanced 5.7%.

Shares of AMP Ltd. (AMLTF) picked up 3.9% after the firm said first-half underlying profit fell 9% but still came in above its projections made earlier.

In Hong Kong, a slew of blue-chips were in focus after reporting results.

Shares of personal-computer maker Lenovo (LNVGY) rose 2.9% following a 23% increase in its fiscal-first-quarter profit, and logistics firm Li & Fung (LFUGY) soared 8.7% as investors cheered its outlook despite a sharp drop in half-yearly profits.

Internet major Tencent Holdings Ltd. (TCEHY) fell 1.1%, and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (CPCAY) lost 1.3% after both firms' profits fell short of estimates.

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