DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we had a sell-off hit Tokyo and most Asian markets today. Andrew Stevens sums up the session from Hong Kong. Hello, Andrew.</s>ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Deborah. As you say, a sell-off in Japan today as investors turn their back on tech stocks after a two-day rally. Big cap tech players like Sony and Pioneer losing momentum and leading the benchmark Nikkei 225 down nearly 2 1/2 percent, to 15814 points at the close. Two issues also weighing on investor confidence in Japan: a lingering whiff of political scandal in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, and news today that a heavily indebted construction firm has had $130 million worth of debt waived by the local courts. That's being seen in Japan as weakening the economic reform process, especially for the banks that are grappling with about $30 billion worth of bad debts. While Japan was falling, Hong Kong was sitting still. The Hang Seng index virtually unchanged on the day thanks to a strong performance by local conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa that offset weakness in the tech sector here. Hutch closing up about one percent on news that its three-way partnership with NTT DoCoMo and KPN of Holland is in a good position to win a third-generation, or 3G, telephone license in Germany. And in Taiwan, stocks fell sharply before cutting losses, the TAIEX index closing nearly one percent lower at 7844 points, that's its fourth straight loss. The index had been down nearly 2 1/2 percent, but heavy buying from state-owned pension funds fueled a partial rebound. And that is the action from Asia, Deborah, back to you.</s>MARCHINI: Andrew Stevens, thank you.
Techs Spur Sell-Off in Tokyo, Across Most Asian Markets