Asian shares broadly lower, Tokyo eyes weekend poll

Asian shares mostly fell on Friday, with profit-takers moving in at the end of a positive week, while dealers in Japan keep an eye on weekend parliamentary elections. The losses came despite another record-breaking close for the Dow and S&P 500 on Wall Street, while the dollar gave up the advances made against the yen in US trade. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 218.59 points at 14,589.91, while the Topix index of all first-section shares fell 0.82 percent, or 10.03 points, to 1,211.98. "Foreign investors are the most common buyers of futures and had been picking them up over the last 10 days or so in anticipation of the Sunday upper house diet elections," Tachibana Securities market advisor Kenichi Hirano told Dow Jones Newswires. "It's very possible that with an overheated and thin-volume market, they are testing to see how far the Nikkei could fall." The national polls will elect half of Japan's 242-member upper chamber of parliament, which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party is expected to win. A solid showing would give Abe the legislative muscle to press with an economy-boosting plan that could include some unpopular reforms.Analysts said the index was due for a slight correction as it has risen almost 20 percent since the middle of last month, thanks to easing concerns about the Fed's stimulus while the yen resumes its downward trend against the dollar. The stronger yen hit exporters. Toyota slipped 0.15 percent to 6,470 yen while Sony lost 0.27 percent to 2,188 yen. Panasonic edged down 0.11 percent to 879 yen after US authorities said the Japanese giant and its subsidiary Sanyo have each pleaded guilty to price-fixing, agreeing to pay $56.5 million in fines. Japan Airlines shares fell 0.93 percent to 5,320 yen after one of its Dreamliner airplanes aborted a flight from Boston to Tokyo Thursday. The Sydney market lost 0.43 percent, or 21.3 points, to end at 4,972.1 and Seoul slipped 0.22 percent, or 4.07 points, to 1,871.41. Hong Kong was flat, nudging 17.20 points up to 21,362.42 while Shanghai tumbled 1.52 percent, or 30.75 points, to 1,992.65. On forex markets, the dollar bought 100.26 yen in afternoon trade, compared with 100.50 yen late in New York. The euro bought $1.3129, compared with $1.3112 yen while sitting at 131.68 yen from 131.77 yen. Oil prices were slightly higher. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, fell nine cents to $107.95 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for September lost 11 cents to $108.59. Gold cost $1,289.00 per ounce at 0810 GMT, compared with $1,281.20 late Thursday. In other markets: -- Taipei fell 1.62 percent, or 132.85 points, to 8,062.03. Smartphone maker HTC fell by its daily limit of 7.0 percent to Tw$168.5 while Hon Hai dipped 0.77 percent to Tw$77.4. -- Manila closed 0.41 percent lower, giving up 27.33 points to 6,621.02. Manila Electric Co. plunged 8.20 percent to 277.60 pesos after San Miguel, one of the country's most valuable companies, announced it had completed the sale of part of its minority stake in the electricity supplier. Banco de Oro ended 1.86 percent down at 84.65 pesos, while San Miguel dropped 0.34 percent to 87.50 pesos. -- Wellington eased 0.55 percent, or 25.08 points, to 4,538.31. Contact Energy was off 1.11 percent at NZ$5.36 and Chorus shed 1.85 percent to NZ$2.65, while Air New Zealand was up 0.34 percent at NZ$1.47.