Japan’s Nikkei share average fell
on Tuesday as semiconductor-related heavyweights declined after
a drop in South Korea’s Samsung Electronics weighed on regional
technology stocks.
The Nikkei was down 1.35% at 68,798.93, as of 0133
GMT.
The broader Topix index slipped 0.21% to 4,093.39
after hitting a record high of 4,137.62 earlier in the session,
as investors bought financial and other beaten-down value
stocks.
“The market looked into the shares of Samsung Electronics
, which fell even as the memory chipmaker’s forecast
beat the market forecast,” said Kazuaki Shimada, chief
strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities.
Shares of Japan’s high-flying memory maker Kioxia
fell 10.86% and chip-related Advantest and Tokyo
Electron lost 0.64% and 1.85%, respectively.
“This is a healthy correction of the distorted market. The
market is selling chip-related stocks and buying value shares
which became cheap,” Shimada said.
The tech-heavy Nikkei tends to track moves in South Korea’s
benchmark index, which is also heavily weighted toward chip
stocks.
Samsung Electronics fell more than 5%, weighing
on regional technology shares, after the world’s largest memory
chipmaker on Tuesday forecast a 19-fold jump in second-quarter
operating profit from a year earlier. This disappointed
investors who had expected a stronger earnings outlook.
South Korea’s stock benchmark KOSPI slumped more
than 5% in early trade.
Japan’s banking shares rose, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial
Group up 3%. Shares of Mizuho Financial Group
and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 2% and
1.26%, respectively.
Toyota Motor rose 1.45%.
Topix’s value share index climbed 0.14%, against a
0.36% fall of the growth share index.
Of the more than 1,500 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange’s prime market, 66% rose, 31% slipped and 2% traded
flat.