The stock exchange in Tokyo began the week's last trading day downwards and thus followed Wall Street, which fell in the wake of disappointed reactions to Meta's and Microsoft's latest quarterly reports.
The important Nikkei 225 index had lost 2.3 percent by lunchtime, while the broader Topix index fell 1.5.
On the other hand, it was more cheerful on Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, which grew by 1.1 percent during the first hours.
Relatively happy tones were also heard from Shanghai's composite index, plus 0.6, while the composite index in Shenzhen went in the opposite direction and decreased 0.9.
