Fresh worries were set off by Hitachi's surprise reversal of a previous net profit forecast for the fiscal year through March to a net loss - the first red ink ever for the leading Japanese electronics manufacturer.

Amid grim corporate news such as Hitachi's, investors are worried that more (manufacturers) may also report downward earnings revisions,'' said Takeshi Kubota, general manager at Meiko Securities Co.

The market was also pulled lower after the Nihon Keizai Business Daily reported that Toa Steel had effectively gone bust and that its operations will be taken over by steelmaker NKK, traders said.

The broader Tokyo stock price index of all issues listed on the first sectionof the exchange fell 4.99 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 1,113.77. The Topix rose 8.61 points, or 0.78 per cent, the previous day. Declining stocks exceeded advancing shares 830 to 289, with 170 issues closing unchanged. An estimated 375 million stocks changed hands on the first section, down from 485 million shares on Wednesday.

Some equity investors also remain jittery after the plunge earlier this week in US stocks, traders said. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrials Average suffered its second-biggest point loss ever. The Dow Average declined 45.06 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 7,782.37 on Wednesday.

Singapore markets shaken by Malaysian political shake-upShare prices closed the morning session 2.1 per cent lower here Thursday as the island felt the shock waves of the sacking of neighboring Malaysia's deputy Prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index closed the morning 17.66 points lower at 810.19. Another index tracking mostly Malaysian shares traded over the counter hereplunged 14.31 per cent.

Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad's decision to fire his number two added to the confusion stemming from currency controls he imposed earlier in the week, reversing reforms pushed by Anwar, who was also Finance minister.``We are still reeling from the effects of that,'' a research head with a regional broking house said of the currency curbs which were accompanied by the fixing of The Malaysian ringgit's exchange rate at 3.80 to the US dollar.

A dealer with a regional brokerage said investors were probably scared of Mahathir's next possible moves which can cause a spillover effect into the Singapore economy. ``With Anwar out of the way, Mahathir, for instance, can do more drastic steps like disallowing Malaysian companies from using Singapore's Port,'' he said.

``Singapore is too close to Malaysia for it not to be affected by what's happening there,'' he said. Other analysts however felt the impact of Anwar's sacking on Singapore shares was small compared with that of Malaysia'sforeign exchange curbs announced earlier in the week, adding that there may be benefits from the political overhaul.

``In a crisis like this, it is better to have one view (in the government) rather than differing views," said the research head with a regional broking house. Bank stocks led Singapore shares down. Analysts said there were renewed concerns about Singapore banks' exposure to Malaysia.

A dealer with a foreign brokerage said regional funds locked in Malaysian equities were likely to be liquidating positions in other regional markets.``If they need to make fund redemptions and they cannot repatriate ringgit proceeds out of Malaysia, they will try to sell on other markets to raise the funds they need,'' he said.

As part of drastic measures imposed by Mahathir, Malaysia imposed a one-year limit on the proceeds of shares sold by foreign investors in Kuala Lumpur and limited the amount of ringgit that can be brought out of the country.Russian stocks slide to new all-time low.

Russia's ghostlystock market slid to a new all-time closing low on Thursday as the country's political stalemate compounded seemingly endless economic woe and sidelined all but the occasional isolated seller. At 6 pm (1400 GMT), the Russian Trading System index stood at 61.43, down 6.4 per cent from Wednesday's close, and almost two points lower than last week's previous record low of 63.20. Volumes were microscopic.

"There is nothing going on, no buyers, no sellers," said Gary Kinsey, a trader.