DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: Tokyo stocks fell nearly two percent overnight.</s>DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Janine Graham sums up the day for us in Asia from our studios in Hong Kong. Good morning, Janine.</s>JANINE GRAHAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, David and Deborah. Well, Asian markets were mixed, but Wall Street's weakness and growing concerns about the U.S. economy were a drag on investor sentiment. Japanese traders, returning from a three-day weekend, didn't find any welcome news from Wall Street. The Tokyo Nikkei Average shared 1.8 percent and dominant carrier NTT's nearly 6 percent slide also weighed on the market. Investors fretted over the government's planned share sale. Japan's Corbey (ph) Steel and U.S. Steel Group say they will increase their cooperative efforts in research and development. And both companies currently make and supply galvanized steel for carmakers in North America. Here in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index advanced four-tenths of a percent, lifted by conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa's nearly two percent rise. Hutchison surprised markets late Monday by saying it was selling 2.5 billion U.S. dollars worth of shares in British wireless giant Vodafone through a convertible note issue. And, in Taiwan, the Taipei Weighted jumped more than three percent led by heavy buying of technology shares. Investors were anticipating strong December sales reports from major chipmakers. And Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world's largest microchip foundry, gained nearly four percent. After the markets closed, TSMC reported record December sales of 554.5 million U.S. dollars. That's a 112 percent surge from last year. Well, that wraps up the trading day here in Asia. Now back to you in New York.</s>MARCHINI: All right, thank you, Janine.
Wall Street Weakness Drags on Asian Markets