Markets in Asia were mostly off.

The Nikkei fell 1.1% to 18,050. Honda (HMC) fell 1.3% to 4470. NEC (NIPNY) rose 1.4% to 639. NTT (NTT) fell 2.7% to 530000. Sony (SNE) fell 2% to 6330.

The Hang Seng fell .6% to 22,742. China Petroleum (SNP) fell 1.4% to 8.94  HSBC (HBC) fell 1.1% to 143.7.

The Shanghai Composite rose .3% to 3,863.

Data from Reuters

Douglas A. McIntyre