AP
Japanese, S.Korean Stocks Fall Sharply
Thursday August 16, 11:05 pm ET
Japanese, South Korean Stocks Fall Sharply in Morning Trading After Global Stock Falls

TOKYO (AP) -- Asian stocks fell sharply Friday morning on persistent concerns stemming from the U.S. housing loan crisis and its impact on the world economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index declined 376.10 points, or 2.33 percent, to end morning trading at 15,772.39 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The index has lost some 8 percent since the beginning of this month.

The broader Topix index, which includes all shares on the exchange's first section, lost 16.32 points, or 1.04 percent, to 1,551.14 points.

In South Korea, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index declined as much as 2.1 percent in early trading before rebounding into positive territory briefly. The Kospi was down 14.62 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,677.36, about midway through the session.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 index was down 0.5 percent to 3,937.1.

Japanese stocks fell despite Wall Street pulling off a dramatic late-session turnaround to close mixed Thursday after bargain hunters lured by weeks of massive declines returned to the stock market.

The dollar's sharp decline against the yen also hurt the market sentiment, traders said. The dollar was trading at 113.22 yen at late morning, up from 113.11 yen late Thursday in New York. The euro rose to $1.3418 from $1.3405.

A higher yen makes Japanese exports more expensive and less competitive overseas.

Exporters took a beating Friday morning, with automaker Honda Motor Co. off 5.3 percent and trading house Itochu down 7.1 percent.

Earlier Friday, Japan's central bank injected 1.2 trillion yen ($10.5 billion) into money markets -- for the third time this week and tripling the amount it injected the day before -- in a bid to curb rises in key interest rates.

Central banks in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan have injected tens of billions of dollars into money markets since Aug. 9 when stocks tumbled because of worries over U.S. subprime mortgage problems.

The Dow Jones industrial average Thursday closed down 15.69, or 0.1 percent, to 12,845.78 after falling more than 340 points during the day.