Market Report - Japan Tech Companies Down

Asian share markets were down today amid a slew of earnings. The Nikkei fell to a two-week low as the strong yen continued to weigh on Japanese exporters, while company profits were mainly lower. Consumer electronics giant Sony reported a second straight quarterly loss and forecast an unprofitable year. Rival Panasonic declined ahead of numbers that will be posted on Friday, showing more than a billion dollar net loss this year. Electronic manufacturers Hitachi and Toshiba dipped after the Nikkei daily reported the firms each plan to shut TV production at two separate flat-panel manufacturing facilities in Europe. A rare winner was telecoms giant NTT, which gained after an $11.5 billion operating profit in the last year, although down 14 percent. Australian miner Rio Tinto tumbled after some shareholders demanded it scrap a planned $19.5 billion deal with China's Chinalco. Meanwhile, shares of China Construction Bank eased, after China's No.2 said Bank of America would keep its remaining shares after a $7.3 billion sale earlier this week.

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