Asian markets plummet, tech stocks battered

Tokyo stocks ended just under three percent lower at themarket’s close with the benchmark Nikkei average at 19,189.93, down 560.47 points. Before the opening the government reported Japan slippedinto a technical recession late last year, but officials and some analysts saw bullish signs for recovery in a rise in capital expenditure and improvement in personal consumption.

However, the market shrugged off the data. Institutionalinvestors were unloading high-tech and Internet stocks, which scored solid gains in the year, to beef up their portfolio performance ahead of end-March book closings. Individual investors were also shying away from the sector.

"This is the downside of the market depending on onesector," said Kunihiro Hatae, general manager at Tokyo Securities.

Sony, considered a bellwether of Japan’s high-tech sector, was ask-only and down by its daily limit of 2,000 yen or 7.6 per cent at 24,300 where it closed the days’ trading.

The share came under renewed selling pressure after its game unit Sony Computer Entertainment said some of its new PlayStation2 game consoles had malfunctioned. Hong Kong shares also skidded on Monday as investors soldvolatile telecom and technology stocks. The key Hang Seng index ended the morning at session lows, dropping 2.97 percent or 530.49 points to 17,301.37.

China Telecom, which accounted for almost 60percent of the index fall, was sold off after newspaper reports that a public listing of China United Telecommunications Corp, China’s second largest telecoms operator, could put downward pressure on China Telecom.

In Singapore, shares had declined by midday as electronicstocks led a nervous market downwards.