Japanese shares drop nearly 2% on Advantest, Tokyo Electron slump
25/08/2023 04:27
TOKYO, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks slumped about
2% on Friday, as chip-related heavyweights Advantest and Tokyo
Electron dropped after U.S.-listed shares of tech darling Nvidia
ended flat overnight despite a robust outlook and record
quarterly revenue.
The Nikkei .N225 was down 1.92% at 31,666.36 by the midday
break, after falling as much as 2% earlier in the session. The
index is set to lose 0.69% for the week.
The broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.88% to 2,266.44 and is
poised to drop 1.31% for the week.
Shares of Nvidia NVDA.O ended flat at $471.63 the day
after the company beat analyst expectations when it reported
second-quarter revenue of $13.51 billion after the bell, and
predicted revenue would reach $16 billion in the third quarter.
The three major U.S. stock indexes ended down more than 1%
each overnight, led by a drop in the Nasdaq after this week's
sharp gains and as investors were cautious ahead of Federal
Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech in Jackson Hole on Friday.
"Japanese market tracked Wall Street's declines. Foreign
investors seemed to have lost their appetite for Japanese
equities today," said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the
research department at Tachibana Securities.
"Investors were bracing for market declines after (Fed Chair
Jerome) Powell's speech later in the day. It appears like his
message will be hawkish."
Investors await Powell's speech for clues on the U.S.
central bank's monetary policy.
Shares of Japanese chip-testing equipment maker fell, with
Advantest 6857.T tanking nearly 10% while chipmaking equipment
maker Tokyo Electron 8035.T slipped 5.61% and its peer Screen
Holdings 7735.T lost 3.51%.
Technology investor SoftBank Group 9984.T fell 3.79%.
Of the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange,
only three rose, with the shipping sector .ISHIP.T gaining
0.24%.
The services sector .ISVCS.T was trading flat, while the
operator of Tokyo Disney Resort Oriental Land 4661.T advanced
0.71%.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
((junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com;))