DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: We've got Asian markets down. Investors finally got a chance there to react to what we heard yesterday: Sony's disappointing earnings. Dalton Tanonaka sums up the day in Asia from Hong Kong -- Dalton.</s>DALTON TANONAKA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I will do that. Good morning, Deborah. Most Asian markets ended the trading week lower, despite Wall Street's bounce. Tokyo's Nikkei falling nearly two percent to close at a 19-month low. Stocks led down by tech bellwether Sony, the creator of PlayStation 2, sinking 7 1/2 percent, after the company announced the fall in profits late Thursday. The negative sentiment spread to Toshiba. The world's number- three chip maker slipped a third of a percent despite returning to profit in the first half of this year. Toshiba announcing an expected group net profit of nearly $500 million, a total boosted by strong demand for chips. Property stocks in Hong Kong pulled the Hang Seng two-thirds of a percent lower. Bearish comments out of Salomon Smith Barney and UBS Warburg on the Hong Kong property sector denting investor sentiment. Political uncertainties prompted investors in Taiwan to pocket profits from a recent run-up in the benchmark Taiex, the index losing more than two percent. The much-hyped IPO of Taiwan's biggest telecommunications company disappointed investors. State-owned Chunghwa Telecom tumbled more than three percent. That company is planning to list American depository receipts in New York in the next few months. And that is the trading day and week in Asia. Have a good weekend, Deborah.</s>MARCHINI: Dalton, thanks a lot.
Tech Bellwether Sony Leads Asian Markets Lower