SINGAPORE, March 27 (UPI) -- Asian stock markets ended the day mixed Thursday, with investors showing concerns about the developments in Iraq as well as about the impact Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome will have on consumer confidence and tourism.
Airlines' shares were especially affected, with several announcing they might have to cut flights as a result of the disease, which is starting to affect the tourism industry in the region. Several airlines have already announced flight cut backs as a result of the war in Iraq.
China Southern Airlines lost 7.14 percent, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways was down 4.55 percent and Singapore Airlines fell 3.1 percent.
Still, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.2 percent, to 8368.67, supporting on light interest in small-cap issues. Investors kept a close eye on the situation in Iraq, but activity was calm as heavy fighting near Baghdad was expected.
Concerns about oil prices were an additional damper on airline shares, with Japan Airlines System down 2.7 percent. The company announced further flight cutbacks Wednesday.
Major technology stocks were little changed, with Sony up 0.7 percent, but NEC down 1.4 percent.
In Taiwan, the TAIEX share index added 0.40 percent up at 4,514.24, despite a 4.47 percent drop in heavyweight TSMC after IBM announced it had won an order from key TSMC customer Nvidia Corp. Interest in larger-capitalization petrochemical and banking shares helped cushion the impact on the index.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index ended down 1.9 percent at 8,872.32, with investors starting to worry about the negative impact of SARS, which is starting to affect the tourism and retail sectors. Hotel operator Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels dropped 4.3 percent.
The key Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished down 1 percent at 549.26 with losses across the board.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index closed down 0.86 percent at 1,313.65, with selling in the banking sector weighting on activity. DBS Group fell 1.55 percent and OCBC Bank dropped 1.5 percent.
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index ended up 0.7 percent at 1,035.00, with demand for telecom group PLDT up 2.5 percent, pulling it higher. The company announced earlier this week a write off of its remaining exposure to its loss-making mobile phone unit Pilipino Telephone, and analysts believe it will help the company's financial position in the long run.
Meanwhile, Indian stocks ended lower tracking U.S. losses and reacting to a barrage of developments in the Iraq war.
The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, which added 3.16 points during the previous session, lost 26.79 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,116.79.
The Kuala Lumpur's benchmark Composite Index ended 0.02 percent down at 632.84, on disappointment the central bank left its key interest rates unchanged.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index rose 0.08 per cent to close at 401.343.
Australian stocks settled mixed in directionless trading. The All Ordinaries index slipped 3.40 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,855.00.
