Nikkei drops on profit-taking, semiconductor stocks slump
14/07/2020 07:33
TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters) - Japanese shares ended lower on
Tuesday as investors booked profits after a sharp gain in the
previous session, while semiconductor and other high-tech firms'
stocks took a hit following overnight weakness in U.S. peers on
Nasdaq.
The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 slipped 0.87% to
close at 22,587.01, after hitting a one-month high in the
previous session. There were 83 advancers against 135 decliners
on the index.
In the broader market, Topix .TOPX fell 0.5% to 1,565.15,
following a 2.46% jump in the previous session.
All but seven of the 33 industry subindexes in the Tokyo
Stock Exchange were in negative territory, with fishery and
forestry .IFISH.T , airlines .IAIRL.T and land transport
.IRAIL.T leading the losses.
Semiconductor shares were bruised by a 2.13% drop on the
Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC , which was pulled down by Amazon,
Microsoft and other big-name leaders of Wall Street's recent
rally as fresh coronavirus restrictions in California and
mounting U.S.-China tensions triggered a selloff. .N
Advantest Corp 6857.T slipped 2.43%, while Screen Holdings
Co Ltd 7735.T and Tokyo Electron Ltd 8035.T fell 2.41% and
1.45%, respectively.
Other high-tech shares also underperformed, with Fujitsu Ltd
6702.T falling 0.3% and Fanuc Ltd 6954.T dipping 0.69%.
Sony Corp 6758.T dropped 1.98%, after reaching its highest
level since 2001 in the previous session.
Elsewhere, Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T
fell 1.36% after a Wall Street report said the tech conglomerate
is exploring options including a full or partial sale or public
offering of British chip designer Arm Holdings. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2EK3OM
(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Devika Syamnath and
Rashmi Aich)
((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))