TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average fell for a third session on Tuesday as investors adjusted their portfolios and corporates avoided buybacks as the first half of the nation’s fiscal year drew to a close.
The Nikkei fell 0.25 percent to 44,932.63, but the broader Topix rose 0.19 percent to 3,137.6 as big bank shares rose.
“Investors sold technology stocks, which are the Nikkei’s heavyweights, to book profits,” said Naoki Fujiwara, senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.
Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest fell 3.27 percent to become the biggest percentage loser on the Nikkei. Technology start-up investor SoftBank Group lost 1.86 percent.
“Today’s decline (of the Nikkei) does not mean the market sentiment has weakened,” said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.
This kind of adjustment associated with the end of the first half of the fiscal year may continue in the next session, he said.
The market was also dragged lower as companies avoided buybacks at the end of the first half of fiscal year, he added.
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