Japan’s Nikkei falls on tech selloff, set for second weekly drop

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average reversed early gains on Friday and were on track for a second straight weekly decline, as investors sold heavyweight technology stocks to book profit.

The Nikkei fell 0.85% to 52,923.12 by the midday break after rising as much as 0.4% earlier in the session.

It was down 1.7% for the week, but up 5.1% for the month.

The broader Topix slipped 0.25% to 3,536.26 on Friday and was on course for a 2.6% weekly drop.

“Investors sold technology stocks to book profits today,” said Takamasa Ikeda, a senior portfolio manager at GCI Asset Management.

“The yen weakened against the dollar, and that could be positive for stocks, but these days those two assets’ moves are not correlated.”

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest fell 5.62% after a seven-session winning run to drag the Nikkei the most.

Advantest shaved 336 points off the Nikkei, which fell by 452 points.

Nomura Research tanked 15.87% to become the worst percentage loser on the Nikkei.

“The market scooped up stocks with strong outlook,” said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the research department at Tachibana Securities.

Casio Computer jumped 14.8% to become the top percentage gainer on the Nikkei, after the calculator maker said its annual net profit might double.

Fujitsu gained 3.56% after the computer maker raised its annual net profit forecast by 93%.

Of the more than 1,600 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s prime market, 47% rose, 47% fell and 4% traded flat.